Something New
by Nightstar Fury
Summary: After he shows her the truth about dragons, and she learns of being forced into an arranged marriage-Hiccup and Astrid leave Berk with their dragons. Forging a future together on their own sounds great but anything easy when the past catches up with them and they are forced to return to the place it began. Can they bring something new, or will the old remain? Rated M!
1. Chapter 1

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Author's Note:** _The opening scene is right after Hiccup takes down the Night Fury, then is scolded by his father. Also; changing it up a bit by saying that Hiccup is seventeen years old and the gang has their Race To The Edge appearances! Enjoy!_

 **Chapter 1**

~Astrid's POV~

Berk is the island we live on in the Archipelago, it's often called the Isle of Berk. Around us are many other islands, inhabited by dragon and vikings. There's a bit of a war between our two species, has been going on the last three hundred years or so I've been told. My name is Astrid Hofferson-blond hair and blue eyes, I'm seventeen years old and my weapon of choice is my double headed ax. There's only a small group of us teens who are the same age: Snotlout Jorgenson, sixteen years old with black hair and blue eyes-prefers to use a hammer. Fishlegs Ingerman, sixteen with blond hair and green eyes-uses a dagger, not much of a fighter though. Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, twin brother and sister-sixteen years old and both with blond hair and blue eyes. Ruffnut uses a spear, Tuffnut uses a mace. Finally, there was Hiccup Haddock. Auburn hair, green eyes, seventeen like myself and he was son of the chief to our tribe: the Hairy Hooligans.

Now, while Hiccup being son of our chief may sound great-the guy was anything but chief material, let alone viking material. He was super skinny and tall, inventive although many of them failed, and he was smart but not much of a fighter. Hiccup's name was given to him because he was a runt when he was little and viking tradition was to name the runt of the litter a _Hiccup_. Also, some of our parents believe that having a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Hiccup's full name was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and likened the worst viking Berk had ever seen, he was always teased and picked on by Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, not so much Fishlegs-but he did laugh with the others who laughed at Hiccup. I never said much, I honestly felt bad for the guy. Son of the chief and not a single soul believed he had it in him to be chief when his father retired. As Heir to the tribe and island, Hiccup would start chief training when he turned eighteen and this was just one year away.

Tonight there had been a dragon raid-where they fly in to set things on fire and steal food. It was going well but Hiccup wasn't supposed to leave the forge on Gobber's, the blacksmith's, orders. Hiccup wasn't allowed out during raids, and he'd been working under Gobber since he was about five years old. Not many noticed it but I did, Hiccup was great with weapons. He could fix, build, and sharpen them perfectly-but not appreciated for all the work he did there. His nickname in the village was Hiccup the Useless-harsh name and untrue because Hiccup wasn't useless. He just hadn't found what he was good at yet, everyone was good at something and Hiccup would find his eventually. I personally felt like Stoick didn't have time for Hiccup-they were never seen together unless he was being yelled at like now. Hiccup left the forge, and got himself in trouble with a Monstrous Nightmare that his father had to save him from.

I sighed as we all ended up gathering around the main area-Hiccup was about to get scolded for his stunt because the torch pole snapped and destroyed a bunch of things. The first thing out of Hiccup's mouth was: _"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."_ instantly a bunch of people groaned hearing it. I just watched sadly-the poor guy never got a break. Sure what he said was really out there but who knows, maybe he did hit one but none of us saw it. Hiccup was kind of invisible to the village unless something like this happened. Hiccup lost his mother when he was a baby, a dragon broke into the house and she was taken by it. Stoick searched but she was never found again-it's a lot of reason Stoick hates dragons. No one ever gave Hiccup a chance-he was probably good at a lot of things with all the time to himself. He was either at home or in the forge, sometimes in the Mead Hall where we had meals.

I watched Stoick grab Hiccup's arm and start walking him towards their house, Hiccup still going on about the Night Fury and suggesting we get a search party out to Raven Point to look for it. Stoick stopped and sighed, "Stop! Just...stop. Every time you step outside, disaster falls. Can you not see I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed,"

I saw Hiccup roll his eyes, "Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding don't ya think?" was Hiccup's retort-I forced back a giggle, he was very sarcastic but in a good way.

"This isn't a joke. Hiccup. Why can't you follow the simplest orders?" Stoick said in defeat.

"I can't help myself. I see a dragon and I just have to kill it. It's...who I am, Dad." Hiccup mumbled some.

"You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them...get back to the house," Stoick began to walk off, "And make sure he gets there! I have his mess to clean up," the man ordered as Gobber came up and whacked Hiccup lightly in the back of the head-leading him to the house. It was hard to watch, Stoick always just looked the other way, ignored his son and it was easy to see that it affected Hiccup a lot. I overheard Hiccup talking to Gobber about Stoick never listening to him, or that he was disappointed in him all the time. I heard him say that he just wanted to be one of us-meaning a fighter, a viking. The door closed and usual clean up from the raid started.

(Next Day)

Today was good, we'd be starting dragon training! I'd been waiting forever for this-a chance to prove myself as one of Berk's best female warriors. As I entered the kill rings with the others, I saw Hiccup enter behind us holding a single head ax-he was in dragon training too? Guess it wouldn't be so bad, maybe he'd find what he was good at here. Maybe he had hidden talent none of us had ever seen before, Hiccup did a lot of observing and he knew weapons like the back of his hand. Gobber was explaining that the recruit who did best would win the honor of killing their first dragon in front of the village, then went on to release a Gronckle without warning. It was hectic. The twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout were all out within the first seven minutes. It was just Hiccup and I, I moved to avoid a blast and Hiccup's shield was hit, knocked from his hands as he tried to chase it and the Gronckle enclosed on him. I actually got a little worried.

The Gronckle boxed him in against the wall, I heard Gobber yell for him in fear and rush over as the Gronckle opened it's mouth forming a blast. Gobber hooked it's mouth and the blast went right over Hiccup-the boy sat there panting, clearly afraid that he was almost killed.

"Remember. A dragon will always," he turned to Hiccup now, "Always go for the kill." I saw a strange look on Hiccup's face. One of...curiousness and confusion. I didn't understand, wasn't he just scared out of his wits about dying? After class, I saw Hiccup head towards the forest. My own curiosity winning, I followed him but lost track when he disappeared behind a rock. I gave up and went back to the village and didn't see Hiccup again until dinner time. He looked miserable and in thought. We all ended up leaving him there alone to read over the Dragon Manual. A book holding information about every type of dragon we knew about currently.

(A Few Days Later)

Another training session over, we were all tired and heading to the hall to relax and talk about thing. But not Hiccup, I watched him head the opposite direction towards the forest with a shield...and a fish? What in the name of Thor would he need either of those things for? I decided I'd follow him again so I stayed about ten feet behind him as he moved through the forest-nothing shocked me more when I saw him enter a spot between two rocks and look around. I moved higher to get a better look, just below the rocks was a small cove-it was close to twelve or maybe fifteen feet from ground level up. Inside were trees, a small pond, grass, rocks...it was beautiful actually but why would Hiccup come here?

I watched him throw the fish in, then try to get past the two rocks with the shield-which ended up getting stuck there. He sighed heavily and moved under it, grabbing the fish again and moving inside cautiously. I didn't understand what he was doing, then something caught my eye. A black creature creeping over a rock formation and stalking Hiccup almost menacingly. I wanted to warn him but also wanted to know what was going on. As this beast stood, I saw it to be a dragon. All black, lighter patches around it's belly and on it's sides. Green eyes with black irises. Four legs, tail, big wings. I realized then and there-I was looking at a Night Fury!

A dragon likened to be the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, even the dragon manual had nothing on it. I recall from training Hiccup had been asking about Night Furies, asking how to sneak up on one and Gobber telling him that no one had ever met a Night Fury and lived to tell the tale. In the manual, all it said was to hide and pray the dragon didn't find you. I found myself wondering if Hiccup was about to die being in this thing's presence. I watched Hiccup flinch in fear as the dragon came down to ground level, sniffing curiously but staying very alert and cautious. Hiccup held out the fish to it, it inched closer then backed up growling. Hiccup flinched more as he opened his vest revealing his dagger, the dragon growled in a pounce position. Hiccup only took it off his belt and tossed it in the pond with his foot and much to my surprise I saw the dragon sit back on it's back legs, wider eyes and looking at Hiccup who offered the fish again.

This time the Night Fury moved closer right in front of Hiccup. "Huh...Toothless? Could have sworn you had," Hiccup's sentence was cut short when I saw the dragon's fangs drop down and snatch the fish from his hands and gulp it down in two bites then licked it's lips contently, "teeth..." Hiccup finished. I wanted to laugh, that was kind of cute actually. I watched the dragon move closer again, Hiccup tripped and fell back on his butt trying to get away-him saying he didn't have anymore for the dragon. I gasped silently seeing the dragon spit half of the fish back up and into Hiccup's lap, then sat back again staring intently.

Hiccup seemed to be confused and lift the fish up, I understood now that the dragon was sharing with him. How odd for a dragon to act this way and Hiccup didn't seem scared at all. I watched Hiccup take a bite of the fish, and swallow it-then almost throw it back up but kept that down too. Hiccup smiled at the dragon and it...smiled back to him, a gummy one. So Night Furies had retractable teeth-interesting to know. Hiccup tried to reach for it and the dragon growled and glided off to another spot in the cove, I wondered why it didn't just fly away. The Night Fury singed the ground with it's fire and laid there, it noticed Hiccup moved close again and seemed to huff and ignore him while closing it's eyes and using it's tail to cover it's face.

This is when I noticed that the left tail fin had been torn off and it hit me: this was the Night Fury that Hiccup said he had shot down! He really had done it-I was beside myself with the shock and continued to watch the two. Hiccup tried to touch the tail and the dragon wasn't having it. Hiccup quickly moved away as the dragon lazily wandered to another spot. I just watched as the hours got later-nearing sunset now. I should be back in the village but wanted to know what was going on with Hiccup and this dragon. I saw Hiccup sit on a rock with a stick and start doodling in the dirt, it looked like the Night Fury's face. I then saw the dragon make it's way over to him-sit right beside to watch. I actually did smile when I saw the dragon grab a sapling and start making random lines in the dirt-seemed like it was trying to draw with the sapling in it's mouth.

Hiccup got up and looked at everything curiously, accidentally stepping on a line and earning a growl from the dragon so he stepped off and the dragon calmed. Hiccup tried again two more times to get the same reactions, and then I watched him just move about the lined-careful not to step on any. Hiccup ended up right in front of the dragon, back to it's chest and I worried what would happen, he'd never gotten this close before. Hiccup turned slow and faced it, he tried to touch but the dragon growled turning it's head slightly. Hiccup sighed and closed his eyes, turning his head and looking away-slowly extending his hand with the palm out. My eyes widened as I saw the dragon lean in and close it's eyes then press it's snout to Hiccup's hand and the two held that for only a moment before Hiccup looked back at it, the dragon opened it's eyes and pulled away with a huff then walked off.

I couldn't believe what I just witnessed. Hiccup actually...touched a dragon, a Night Fury and it didn't kill him! Unable to hold my tongue, I made my way down and inside the same way he had. "What did you just do!" I asked quickly, I'd never seen him have such a fearful look in his eyes before.

"As-Astrid!" he said quickly. "What...are you...doing here?"

"I followed you after training, I wanted to know where you'd been disappearing too. Is...that the Night Fury you said you shot down?" I asked rather excitedly.

"Y-yeah...he's...kind of trapped here because he lost his tail fin..." Hiccup replied.

"He let you touch him! I've never seen that before, no dragon lets a human touch them! What did you do to let him?..." I asked curiously.

"I-I don't know...I just...showed him I wasn't afraid of him, I trusted him not to hurt me...and looks like he did the same to me...A-are you gonna tell anyone?" Hiccup asked shyly.

"You should! This is amazing, so many things could change if you did. You touched a Night Fury and LIVED, Hiccup!" I exclaimed smiling.

"No...no I can't...they'd...kill him, Astrid. It's not...fair he has to die because others wouldn't understand..." Hiccup replied.

"Understand what?" I questioned. It was then that Hiccup went on to tell me about sneaking out of his father's house the morning after that raid where he said he shot down a Night Fury and finding the dragon tied up in his bola. Hiccup explained that he was going to kill it and saw fear in it's eyes, that he couldn't kill him because he looked as scared as Hiccup was. I learned that Hiccup let the Night Fury go and it pounced him, it stared him down and Hiccup was scared to die-but the dragon only roared in his face and then took off. Hiccup continued to tell me that he went looking for the Night Fury again after Gobber said dragons always go for the kill. Since then, Hiccup had been coming back to check on him-knowing he was trapped in the cove because he couldn't fly out. "I see...so you don't think anyone would listen to you if you tried to explain to them that dragon's...aren't dangerous and they are just as scared of us as we are of them?"

"Nobody listens to me as it is, not even my dad. It's just better not to say anything...I'm gonna try to find a way to get him out of here. I don't want him to die because of me," Hiccup sighed.

"I listened to you, Hiccup. I saw it with my own eyes and...I want to help you," I said softly.

"You want to help me?" Hiccup asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, with this...helping him get out and free. I won't tell anyone, I swear. I'll help anyway I can...seeing this-I don't think I can hurt dragons or fight them, I see what you see now. It's not fair we kill them when they just survive like we do..." I lowered my head a bit.

"You'd...really keep this a secret, help me help him?" Hiccup asked me, I nodded again. He sighed closing his eyes, "Alright. But we can't be seen together-people will start questioning it...so when you see me coming here, give it like ten minutes until you follow..."

"I'll do that. We should get back though, don't want them sending the village after us." I suggested.

"You go first, I'll follow and come out another way..." Hiccup informed, I smiled.

"Um...I don't really know the way-I was...following you here," I admitted.

"Alright I'll walk you to the edge, then you enter the village alone, I'm going around to end up at my father's house..." Hiccup told me.

"Okay, lead the way then." From there, we walked back-talking a little bit on ideas to get the dragon out of the cove-wouldn't be easy since he couldn't fly but Hiccup seemed to think he could build something to help him. I was intrigued by it and he said could watch as long as we weren't seen together. Reaching the edge of the forest, I went ahead of him and looked back to see he was already gone.

(Next Few Weeks)

Hiccup was very inventive and I was beyond shocked when I saw his first idea-a leather dragon tail with metal rods and connectors that would allow it to open and close. Apparently he built it right after Gobber finished a story about how he lost his leg and arm. As I'd promised, I told no one about the meetings in the cove with Hiccup. The very first one with the leather tail had been interesting. Hiccup brought an entire basket of fish, even gave the dragon a name: Toothless. We learned that Toothless didn't like eels. The first attempt with the tail: terrifying but Hiccup continued to add on to it over the last few weeks. The tail couldn't open on it's own, learned that by poor Hiccup getting taken on a ride-holding on to Toothless's tail. Toothless was able to fly if Hiccup opened it himself and adjusted it.

Obviously he couldn't continue to ride the tail-this brought him to the idea of having a saddle and piece of rope to open the tail. Also ended with not working. The ideas continued until eventually, Hiccup built and entire rig with cables, peddles, saddle, tail. I couldn't believe he'd made such a creation but it had been yet to be tested. More in the last few weeks as the new modifications were made to the tail, is that Hiccup became quite the sensation in training and then among the village. Learning Toothless didn't like eels helped against a Zippleback where Hiccup backed it into it's pen with his hands, later on I discovered it was because he had an eel under his vest.

More tricks consisted of a special grass that made a Gronckle drop in delight after Hiccup rubbed it's nose. He also knew a pressure point to bring a dragon down-not hurt it, just paralyzed them slightly. And I saw him using a little sunbeam on the ground to get a Terrible Terror into it's pen. All things he learned while working with Toothless. It was amazing to see and today was the test flight with the rig, I was excited and nervous for him.

"Be careful up there," I offered lightly, keeping my distance. Toothless knew I was there but didn't seem to like me very much. Seemed reasonable-Hiccup earned his trust, not me. I was more...tolerated because Hiccup told Toothless I wouldn't hurt him.

"No promises..." he shrugged and got on Toothless's back in the saddle and positioned his feet. We were trying this near the sea stacks. Out of village eyesight. That was all we needed, to be caught together and then also have it come out Hiccup was RIDING a dragon, a Night Fury no less. Hiccup had a piece of paper with him, something for the tails positioning. "Alright bud, let's take this nice and slow..." he told the dragon, I thought it was cute-the little friendship they had. Toothless darted off down the stack and I only prayed this went well.

I watched closely as they went under a rock formation, then crashed into stacks twice, they flew right up and doing well. Until Hiccup's cheat sheet flew off, he caught it and his restraints holding him to Toothless released and they separated. I watched in horror-he was gonna die. No way he'd survive the fall into the freezing cold waters from that height. However, I was proven wrong when he grabbed the saddle and pulled himself back on, locking back in place. I watched closer as they neared narrow stacks together. Hiccup didn't have time to read the sheet, he tossed it and winged the entire maze on instinct. I couldn't believe it! He did it, he made it so Toothless could fly! Well, not without him he couldn't but regardless-Hiccup built a working dragon tail!

"You did it!" I said happily as they landed on the stack, I hugged him tightly. I don't know where it came from but I did, I pulled back with a slight blush. "Wow, I can't believe it works! And you rode him, it's gotta be amazing to be up there and flying..." I breathed out.

"Want to find out for yourself?" he asked me. I blinked wondering what he meant, he got back on Toothless and offered his hand to me. "Do you trust me, Astrid?"

"I-I do, Hiccup...but I don't think...Toothless wants me on him," I replied nervously.

"You have to earn his trust, you said you saw how I did it...why don't you try the same?" Hiccup suggested. I glanced at Toothless and took a deep breath, as I carefully placed down my ax and daggers then moved in front of Toothless who started growling a bit. I looked at Hiccup for help but he just urged me to go ahead. I looked at Toothless again and closed my eyes turning my head with my palm out. It took a moment but I felt a scaled snow against it-opening my eyes I saw it to be Toothless's and his eyes were closed too. Did that mean it worked? I earned his trust. Toothless opened his eyes and pulled back some, he gave a slight head nod to me and I looked at Hiccup again. "He'll let you on him now," he said offering his hand again.

I took his hand as he pulled me on Toothless's back behind him, I wrapped me arms around his waist and held on. Toothless darted off into the sky-I was terrified at first but soon we were flying towards the sunset, I looked around to see clouds so I reached for one and smiled wide-this was amazing! Toothless took us up past the cloud cover and it was the night sky already, stars and a few more clouds. While enjoying the flight, a glow caught my eye-I looked over to see the Northern Lights on our left. My heart skipped a beat as I held onto Hiccup, lying my head on his shoulder and smiling. Nothing beat this. Nothing at all. I was falling for him, for Hiccup. Stoick was right, Hiccup wasn't a dragon killer. He was a dragon trainer, a dragon rider.

Hiccup took us over Berk, a sight to see from the sky. We got my weapons again and then we landed in the cove afterwards. Hiccup and I got off as I just threw my arms around his neck and kissed him quickly. "Okay, that was amazing...breathtakingly amazing."

"You're welcome...but...why did you kiss me?" Hiccup blinked.

"Because I like you, Hiccup. All this, you...it's incredible. I love being around you, and Toothless...I've never had more fun in my life. This...it's you. The real you. This is who you are...and I want to be with the real you. If you'll...have me?" Astrid blushed deeply. Hiccup's eyes widened some, maybe he didn't like me? Finally he smiled at me and took my hand in his.

"Well, if this is who you really want...how can I deny you? I like you too, always had a crush on you since I was like thirteen..." Hiccup admitted. I smiled. "Would you...like to be my girlfriend, Astrid?"

"I would, Hiccup...on one condition..." I teased slightly as he arched a brow, "I want you to teach me how to train and ride my own dragon. Will you? Please?"

"Alright, we'll have to be careful though. And I gotta find one for you, the only ones on Berk are in the ring-locked up. Might not be so easy...but we will get you your own dragon to train and ride," Hiccup nodded. I beamed happily and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow, Toothless." his dragon friend snorted at him and went to the pond for a drink-then onto the small cave to sleep. Hiccup helped me out of the cove and we walked back hand in hand to the village. I was so happy, I was Hiccup's girlfriend. No one would ever believe it, and he was going to teach me how to train and ride a dragon. Life was really good for me right now, was for Hiccup too. He finally found what he was good at: seeing things that were different. Seeing the truth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 2**

~Normal POV~

Hiccup had never woken up happier knowing he had a best friend, and girlfriend. He was sure until the day he died-he would always be hated and alone and never knowing why. Hiccup was supposed to start chief training with his father in a year but Hiccup didn't want to become chief, it wasn't his thing. In fact, up until Hiccup met Toothless and the two earned the each others trust-he never knew what his thing was. For Thor's sake, Hiccup built a working dragon tail that allowed Toothless to fly again, of course it only worked if he rode on him and controlled the positioning of said tail. Either way, Hiccup knew what he was good at now-thanks to Astrid spying on him. Hiccup found out that he was good at making people see that humans and dragons weren't all that different aside from how they looked and sounded. Emotions and expressions, feelings-both species were the same. Hiccup's thing was showing people the truth.

Why didn't Hiccup kill the downed Night Fury? Because as Hiccup was about to plunge a dagger into it's heart in order to prove to his father he was a viking to gain acceptance-Hiccup caught sight of the dragon's eyes which showed fear first and then the accepting it's death. Hiccup couldn't do it, Hiccup knew how it felt to be defenseless and unable to fight back. Hiccup couldn't and wouldn't kill the Night Fury. It wasn't fair a creature had to die in order for Hiccup be liked, noticed, accepted. The tables turned though when Hiccup decided to let the dragon go, it pounced him and Hiccup knew from legend that the Night Fury did not let it's victims live. However, as Hiccup feared his own death-accepted it would happen, the dragon just roared in his face then darted off. It let him live, just like Hiccup had let the dragon live.

After a lot of investigating, Hiccup learned that him shooting the dragon down cost the dragon it's flight-trapping it in the cove just below Raven Point on Berk. It would never fly again without the left tail fin. Hiccup earned the dragon's trust by showing he wasn't afraid, wanting to understand. Then the dragon now dubbed as Toothless-showed the same. A bond between them formed of mutual trust when they made contact. That's when Astrid showed up-or she'd already been there and watching the whole scene play out. Hiccup thought he was dead because she'd tell on him but instead, she was just as curious and interested. So for the last few weeks, Hiccup worked on the tail-Astrid watching intently and seeing the many failed trials. Finally by the end of the third week, Hiccup nailed it by creating an entire rig to ride and control the tail.

That event was terrifying to test out but worth it because he'd done it! And he even managed to take Astrid on a incredibly romantic flight, one that when they got back-she kissed him and said she liked him a lot-this led to them beginning a relationship and Hiccup agreeing to teach her how to ride her own dragon. They still had to be careful though, a lot of people would get very suspicious as to why the popular daughter of house Hofferson was suddenly dating the runt, disaster son of the chief to house Haddock. Granted-it wasn't unheard of. In viking traditions, the son or daughter of the chief would eventually have to marry and produce an heir during their time of chiefdom. The way it worked was that the chief's child had the house with the most power, in this case it was Hiccup's. Then he was eligible to be under contract to any other female of marrying age which was about sixteen.

For Hiccup's age, Astrid and Ruffnut were the only two females on Berk he'd be eligible to marry. However, most vikings were set up under contracts. Stoick would have to agree to pay the bride price set by the female's family in order for Hiccup to marry Astrid. Then normally-the parents would handle all arrangements and the two under contract would marry within three months of contract negotiations ending, also they would marry on Frigga's day-on the island of Frig which was just Southeast of Berk. If nothing happened with the females on Berk, the invitation would be extended to all daughters of age around the Archipelago-they'd come forwards as suitors for Hiccup to choose from and the contract process would begin and hope it worked. In truth, there was a lot in picking a wife. That's why Hiccup hoped his father would let him marry Astrid. He didn't think it would be a problem, as the chief's son: he had first pick in bride. The only problem that could arise was if someone else stepped in and paid the bride price before Hiccup's father could.

Hiccup would talk to his father when he returned from another dragon's nest search-sure to be another failed one but that wasn't Hiccup's problem. Today, Hiccup was happy to wake up and be member of the tribe. Being up before the sun, Hiccup took a bath and got himself dressed wearing his brown pants, leather boots, long sleeve green tunic top, little bit of leather armor on the chest, and shoulders-his own creation. By the time he was done, the sun was up and people were making their way to the Mead Hall for breakfast. When he reached it, he saw Astrid waiting by the door for him-he greeted her with a kiss on the hand, effectively making her blush.

"Good morning, milady," he smiled.

"Morning dragon boy," Astrid replied-her nickname for him because of his dragon skills. "So, this is where we show everyone we're together?" she inquired.

"We can if you like," Hiccup answered, Astrid took his hand as they walked inside the hall bringing silence to it seeing the two hand in hand. Astrid and Hiccup ignored it, they moved to the table where the other teens were and sat down quietly.

"Holy Thor...you're with Hiccup, Astrid?" Ruffnut asked right away.

"I am...He...asked me last night and I said yes." Astrid responded.

"Why him, he's just a twig and can't fight to save himself let alone protect you..." Snotlout huffed.

"I'm not with him for strength or looks. I'm with him because I like him. He's smart, brave, wise, inventive, and incredibly artistic." Astrid retorted coldly to Snotlout who was always making a play for her. Maybe now that she had a boyfriend, he'd back off.

"Don't forget you kids have trainin' today. Top two recruits will face off to determine who kills the nightmare," Gobber announced walking by them. Breakfast ran smoothly, quiet and many asking when Hiccup and Astrid became a thing-or when she started showing an interest in little Hiccup Haddock. Towards the end, Stoick stormed in and spotted him.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!" he boomed, Hiccup winced a bit and looked over while his father came over to him. "You've been keeping secrets..." Hiccup froze a bit, had he found out about Toothless? "Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" his father asked. Hiccup looked at Astrid as she bit her bottom lip. "Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it!"

"Oh, Dad...I-I'm sorry..." Hiccup said quickly.

"Sorry! For what? I was hoping for this!" Stoick smiled as he hugged Hiccup tightly. Okay, clearly he and his father weren't talking about the same thing. "Years of being the worst viking Berk has ever seen-you really had me going, son! I'll admit, I almost gave up on ya. With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about..." Stoick sat down at the table as Hiccup was quiet. His father was excited about him doing well in dragon training-he didn't know about Toothless or him and Astrid being together. "Oh, almost forget. I have something for you-to keep you safe for today's test..." Stoick pulled out a helmet, two horns curved up on the side.

"Thanks, Dad..." Hiccup said uneasily.

"Your mother would want you to have it, it's half of her breast plate." Hiccup instantly removed his hand from the top of the metal, "Matching set," he tapped his own helmet. "Keeps her...keeps her close..." Hiccup didn't know what to say to him. He'd never been this excited or happy around him before-them actually talking? Not something Hiccup was used too doing.

"W-well, I...better go get ready..." Hiccup said quickly. "I'll...see you tonight?" Stoick nodded his head.

"Yes, of course. Um, good talk...I'll see you tonight son." Stoick then got up, patted Hiccup's back some and headed out. Hiccup groaned some plopping down-now what did he do. His father was actually proud of him for once and it was all based on a lie. Astrid rubbed his back some.

"Let's go for a walk, Hiccup...clear your mind a bit?" Astrid offered. Hiccup nodded as he got to his feet and left the hall with Astrid linked to his arm. Snotlout only glared, he couldn't believe that Astrid was with Hiccup-she was supposed to be with him! He instantly got up and went to see his father-he knew how to get her, he just had to convince his mother and father first.

(In The Ring)

Hiccup and Astrid reached the ring, it was already all set up for the test today. It would be against a dragon, and the one who could get the dragon back in it's cage or disable it for lack of a better word would win the honor of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village. No one knew who the top two recruits were either, it would be announced when the test started in two hours.

"It'll be okay, Hiccup." Astrid told him.

"Gods I hope you're right, Astrid...I have to get Toothless off the island, he can't just stay trapped here...my only option is to fly him off and leave him somewhere else-then sail back to Berk...I'll do it tonight." Hiccup sighed, he didn't want to lose his friend but he couldn't risk him being on Berk. Astrid nodded understanding, it was too dangerous for them to have dragons-especially with Stoick back and all over Hiccup about how well he was doing.

(Two Hours Later)

All the students stood in the ring, the village was standing the outside of it and cheering as Gobber came in with Gothi and Stoick. "Gothi will decide the two recruits who will complete!" Stoick announced as Gothi-the village elder- raised her staff and pointed to Astrid first, and then Hiccup. Both of them went wide eyed at the selection, they had to complete against each other for the honor-which neither of could do. They didn't want to kill dragons anymore-there was no need too, especially if Hiccup could show them how to train them. Things would be more beneficial to them to work with the dragons over hurting them.

"You two will be facing off against the Deadly Nadder, grab your weapon of choice and get ready." Gobber instructed leaving them in the ring and the others.

"What are we gonna do?" Astrid asked.

"Just do what you gotta do. Let me get cornered, I'll use the pressure point. You use the grass but make it look like you hit her with the shield...then they won't know who did what-we'll tie break and figure out something else out..." Hiccup whispered to her, Astrid nodded as they split off to get their weapons. Astrid got her ax and a shield, Hiccup put on his helmet and got a dagger. It's the only way he could make it seem like the both did something but no one knowing which one of them delivered the blow. The Nadder was released and they got ready, they dodged a few times to avoid spines. Hiccup got her attention she went after him. Astrid watched and ran over, the two had their eyes met and understand the look. Astrid pulled the grass out, Hiccup reached for the dragon's neck and then the dragon dropped with it's eyes closed.

"Um...who won?" Fishlegs asked as they looked to Gothi now.

"She says...she will discuss with the council and let the chief now after dinner," Gobber informed after reading the runes Gothi wrote in the sand. Hiccup and Astrid sighed in relief-it wasn't a tie but at least they had some time to figure something out. After that was over, they left the right-shaking hands to show good sportsmanship and then they shared a light kiss. Stoick blinked a bit.

"Are you two...datin'?" Stoick asked.

"Yeah, Dad...we are. Started last night..." Hiccup smiled some.

"Ah, good for yew two then." Stoick smiled then walked away.

"Wanna go to the cove for a bit?" Astrid asked him, he nodded then glanced to the Nadder who was beginning to wake up. The others had dispersed, it was just them now. The Nadder got up slow and wandered towards them-sniffing her slightly. Astrid tensed a bit.

"It's okay, she's just...getting to know you. I think she wants to be your friend because you didn't hurt her," Hiccup smiled. The Nadder squawked some and nudged against Astrid, "I think we just found you your dragon," he told her.

"Really, would she accept me?" Astrid asked. Hiccup nodded.

"Its all trust," Hiccup informed, Astrid smiled. "We gotta sneak her out of here and get her to the cove,"

"How are we gonna do that?" Astrid asked. Hiccup thought a moment then smiled with an idea. "Find the Night Fury in the cove that way, his name is Toothless." the Nadder nodded and took off out of the ring, hiding low in the forest. "There we go, now we get there and I'll start your training. The bonding and trusting isn't hard, flying will be a challenge. Luckily for you...I like those," Hiccup smiled to her, she kissed his cheek as they darted off into the forest while holding hands.

(The Cove)

Once they reached the cove, it began with Astrid earning the Nadder's trust-the same way she earned Toothless's. By showing no fear, the Nadder accepted her just as Hiccup assumed she would. The riding was a bit harder because Stormfly-the name Astrid gave her Nadder-didn't have a saddle and Hiccup promised he'd work on one for her over time, since they had to be careful. For the meantime, they were using a blanket and some rope. Hiccup was able to teach her how to get Stormfly to crouch for Astrid to get on her and hold on tightly, then he taught her how to take off, balance, take turns and what not. It wasn't a lot but she knew how to fly basic in just a few short hours. They took a flight during sunset again-loving it, they kissed and left their dragons in the cove with some fish before returning to the village.

"That was amazing...I can't believe I have my own dragon, and know how to fly her! Thank you," Astrid giggled as they made their way through the forest together.

"I know, it's awesome...I'm glad we can share this together, Astrid but...we can't keep it up forever. We either have to tell everyone or take the dragons away," Hiccup sighed heavily.

"I don't think I could part with Stormfly, it's a weird feeling with her-like she's my best friend...I don't want to lose that feeling of security, protection, friendship...know what I mean?" Astrid asked.

"I do. I feel it with Toothless...but we can't just hide them in the cove-it's not fair to them." Hiccup nodded while the continued walking while the village was coming into the sight.

"So are we going to try and get them to see the truth?" Astrid questioned.

"It's all we can do," Hiccup replied.

"And if they don't listen?" Astrid glanced over.

"We'll have to part with the dragons to keep them safe-we'll likely get exiled from the island. Let me try to get them to see, I don't want you getting kicked off Berk over this...I was always an outcast-it wouldn't be anything new for me to be hated and people pretending I don't exist," Hiccup closed his eyes.

"No, we do this together, Hiccup. If they kick you off, I'm going too." Astrid said firmly. Hiccup smiled some as they were reaching her house, he kissed her lightly as she moved to the door.

"Let's not worry about it right now, when the time comes-we'll handle it." Hiccup told her, she nodded. "See you at dinner?" Astrid nodded and entered her house, Hiccup continued walking to his.

(Haddock House)

Walking into his Dad's house, he saw him sitting at the table-head snapping up when Hiccup entered. "There you are!" he said quickly.

"Sorry, Dad. Astrid and I were...taking a walk together and lost track of time, sat on the beach for a while..." Hiccup shrugged.

"Fine, fine. That's okay, I'm so proud of how you did today!" Stoick smiled wide.

"Uh...thanks..." Hiccup nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"I have have good news for you, Gothi and Gobber came by while you were gone...and you were chosen to kill the Nightmare! You won the honor, Hiccup!" Stoick said excitedly as Hiccup's eyes widened-he won the honor? "And you get you to do it tomorrow morning right after breakfast!" he added. Tomorrow!? He didn't have time to make a plan to get out of this and judging by how his father was acting right now-he'd never listen to Hiccup about the truth regarding dragons. He was at a loss, what did he do? He didn't want to kill a dragon, he didn't want to hide Toothless-that was his best friend. Hiccup bit his lower lip as Stoick hugged him. Hiccup only had one choice; he had to leave Berk with Toothless. To keep his friend safe and get away from the killing, he had to run away. It would break Astrid's heart-but what choice did he have?

(Hofferson House)

Astrid was relaxing in her room, today had been amazing. Hiccup helped her train and ride her own dragon-she loved Stormfly and couldn't imagine a life without her in it. "Astrid dear, can you come down a moment?" her mother called.

"Coming!" Astrid replied as she headed down the stairs to see her parents sitting at the table there. "What's up?"

"Sweetheart...um..." her mother, Asvilla Hofferson, began nervously, Astrid didn't like the look in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Astrid asked slower now, her smile fading.

"You know that when you turned sixteen...we set your bride price for marriage contract purposes, and told you that any male of the same age willing to pay it could have your hand in marriage, remember?" her father, Asmund Hofferson said.

"Yeah? Did...Hiccup's Dad come forward to start a contract for Hiccup and I?" Astrid asked now.

"No baby, another man wants your hand and willing to pay double the bride price to have you..." Asvilla said, Astrid felt her chest tighten. Someone else wanted to marry her?! "The Jorgenson boy, his father came to us early with a drawn up contract for your hand and willing to pay double the price we set for you to be married to Snotlout in two months...we...accepted it." Astrid's eyes widened.

"What! No...NO! I refuse! I don't love him, I love Hiccup. Talk to Stoick or let me talk to Hiccup...I don't want to marry Snotlout, please...!" she pleaded as tears formed.

"You know it doesn't work that way-he already paid half of it. We finalize things tomorrow and you will be Snotlout's fiancee," Asmund replied.

"NO!" Astrid rushed out of the house and up towards Hiccup's-which sat on the hill near the Mead Hall-only to run right into Hiccup himself.

"Astrid? Hey, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked quickly.

"Sn-Snotlout's...dad came to my parents with a contract for marriage, he's willing to pay...double their price for me...and my parents...accepted it!" Astrid cried against him.

"What...no. Let me talk to my dad...maybe he can stop it?" Hiccup insisted quickly.

"No, it's too late. Spitelout already paid half...I'm locked in and tomorrow I'll be...engaged to him, to Snotlout...and married in two months..." Astrid whimpered against him. "I don't want this...I want you," Hiccup held her close to him. He wouldn't make this any better when he told her that he was planning to run away so they had to break up anyway. He wanted her too, he didn't want to leave her and then an idea struck him. He put his hands on her arms and started into her eyes.

"Astrid. I'm leaving Berk tonight. I'm running away," Hiccup said to her as her eyes widened some, "Runaway with me," he smiled.

"Ru-Runaway with you?" Astrid asked, Hiccup nodded. "Wait, what do you mean you're leaving tonight?"

"I was chosen to kill the Nightmare by Gothi. You know I can't and won't, so I'm leaving tonight with Toothless. Runaway with me, and you won't have to marry Snotlout, you can keep Stormfly...and we can be together, forever. No one can tear us apart if there's no us around for people to interfere. Let's leave, together and start a new life all our own. Come with me, Astrid..." Hiccup told her.

Astrid's shocked eyes turned soft, a smile on her lips. "I will, Hiccup." she said to him quickly.

"We have to make it look like we said goodbye to one another. Get home, pack a bag with a few sets of clothes. Get an shield and your ax along with a bedroll, blanket, and pillow. Meet me in the cove at midnight and we'll get the hell outta here and live our own lives together," Hiccup told her, she nodded as they hugged. Astrid kissed his cheek.

"I love you, Hiccup." Astrid whispered.

"I love you too, Astrid. See you in about six hours," Hiccup replied. The split apart and returned to their homes-this was it. They were both leaving Berk tonight with their dragon in order to have a life together, to stay together and be happy. Neither of them could wait and neither of them were going to look back. They were going to start a new life, together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 3**

~Normal POV~

Astrid still couldn't believe her parents agreed to a contract with the Jorgenson family-it had never been done before. Hofferson's couldn't stand Jorgenson's and both families knew that about the other one. Astrid knew why Spitelout would suddenly come forward and offer double the bride price in order to secure the contract, because of Snotlout being jealous that she was dating Hiccup now. Snotlout would never make such a bold move like this unless he was desperate to have her and this would be the only way he could get her. A marriage contract-something she couldn't get out of without extenuating circumstances such as her being unable to produce children-she knew she could because all females of the village had to be checked for child bearing when they were old enough to be under contract for marriage.

When Astrid left her house so upset, she was gonna go to Hiccup and beg him to beg his father to start a contract between her and Hiccup. The only other way out of the contract was for someone else to offer a high bride price or object to the marriage under another law. There was one that said the chief's child could pick who they wanted to marry. Hiccup being the chief of the son could have first pick in bride, Astrid was going to ask Hiccup to marry her then if Hiccup said yes-Stoick could talk to her parents before tomorrow and then she'd be engaged to Hiccup to marry in two months. However, in a turn of events Hiccup also had a brig problem he couldn't get out of: he had been chosen to kill the Monstrous Nightmare tomorrow morning so he was planning to runaway.

What shocked her the most was him asking her to come along and they could have a life of their own with no one trying to tear them apart, and they could keep their draconic friends. The original idea had been to just get the dragons of Berk-but Hiccup just jumped it, saying he was willing to leave in order to keep his friend safe. It made sense, Toothless couldn't fly without Hiccup so even if Hiccup left him on another island, he could be in danger unable to fly. Also, if they had sent the dragons away, they were still stuck there and Astrid would be forced to marry Snotlout if Stoick didn't agree to pay a higher price than Spitelout in order for her to marry Hiccup. And they'd be stuck to kill dragons with the others-Hiccup's idea made sense in more ways than one. Astrid loved Hiccup and he loved her back-they both loved their dragons knowing the truth. All Astrid could do in order to stay happy was run away with him.

When Astrid returned to her house, the time was 6:30pm-it was dark and most everyone was at the Mead Hall for dinner. Perfect time for her to pack her things up so she could leave with Hiccup tonight. Astrid went to her closet and pulled out a medium sized bag, opening it up and then pulling out outfits to take with her. Only five sets consisting of the either a blue, gray, black, or red shirt, then a skirt, leggings of black, blue, or gray in color. She also packed an extra set of shoulder armor, and the spiked piece that went around her waist and hung over her shirt, she grabbed another set of boots then her warmer wear for the harsher winter months-these clothes were lined to have more fur for warmth on her shoulders, a hood, and skirt. When the bag was packed she got her uncle Finn's shield, then her ax set on the bed beside her bag. Next Astrid grabbed her sleeping roll, two blankets-a light and heavy one, then of course a pillow that she stuffed in smaller bag together.

Double checking it all, Astrid nodded and hid everything in the closet until it would be time to go. She would have to sneak out after her parents went to bed around 11pm. Astrid took a deep breath, this was it, she was leaving Berk tonight with Hiccup on Stormfly while he flew Toothless. Astrid didn't know where they would go or how they would survive but between herself and Hiccup with dragons on their side-they would figure it out together. Astrid left her house and moved to the Mead Hall-she and Hiccup would have to act like they broke up for the act of things but in just a few short hours, it wouldn't matter anymore. They'd be off Berk and together where nobody could tear them apart, especially over jealousy.

(Mead Hall)

Hiccup was one of the last people to enter the hall, he'd just finished packing his things up and hiding them in his closet until it was time to go. Hiccup packed himself clothes, boots, leather armor for his shoulders, arms, and a piece to cover his front and back. Hiccup also got himself his bedroll, two blankets, and a pillow-on top of that he had a shield and single head ax. He wasn't much to use weapons but out there on their own, he might need the protection and he did know how to use it. Hiccup made sure to pack food he and Astrid could eat such as bread and fruits. As for fish and meats-they were in a sealed transport container so it wouldn't contaminate the rest. Hiccup couldn't believe they were doing this but it was the only way to stay together, keep from killing dragons, and get to keep their own.

"There ya are son," Stoick smiled putting a hand on his shoulder and leading him over to where Gobber and the others sat. "With you about to be named a true viking, it's time you sit with the rest of us." he added, Hiccup groaned a bit as he glanced at Astrid-she gave him a look saying she was ready to go. Hiccup returned it with a slight head nod as he moved with his father towards the table. Hiccup was seated between his father and Gobber, the others smiling and talking among themselves as Hiccup slowly picked at his food. Fifteen minutes in-his father called everyone's attention to give the announcement of Hiccup winning the honor to kill his first dragon, that it would take place tomorrow morning after breakfast. Hiccup hated it-they'd be in for a real treat when Hiccup wasn't in his room tomorrow morning, or Astrid for that matter. They would be long gone and untraceable too-Hiccup had a map of the Archipelago, he'd know if they were nearing viking islands or not.

Dinner went through as usual, Hiccup stayed mostly quiet and he could tell Astrid was irritated because Snotlout was ranting and raving to her that they'd be married in two months. One or two times Astrid looked at Hiccup for help but he only responded with: it's okay, it won't matter in a few hours. That was the look he gave her, and it was the truth.

(Midnight)

Hiccup left his house after his father checked on him and then went to bed himself. Hiccup grabbed his bag of clothes, and sleeping stuff, then all the food along with his weapon and shield before sneaking out the main door silently and hurrying into the forest undetected. When he arrived at the cove twenty minutes later, he heard sounds and saw Astrid right behind him. They both got down into the cove and embraced tightly-sharing a kiss between them. Toothless and Stormfly came over to them slowly.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Astrid giggled a bit as she greeted Stormfly by patting her neck and earning a squawk.

"I know right? Alright...You've already got two bags so I'll take the food with me. It's just bread, vegetables, and fruit. All meats in here but separated from one another, and in here is fish." Hiccup said showing her everything.

"I'll take the fish, Hiccup. I don't want you to have to carry everything, where are we gonna go first?" Astrid asked him.

"Not sure, was working on it before Dad came in to check if I was sleeping. I think we should head Southwest of Berk, it'll be warmer and we go through less viking islands. Hysteria and Bog Burglar tribes are that direction-but it's better than heading Northwest where we'd deal with the Murderous Mountains, or going Southeast through Outcast, Berserk, and Meathead." Hiccup suggested.

"Good thinking, so what is our plan...just gonna island hop?" Astrid asked.

"Well, we can't go anywhere viking inhabited. But maybe we can stay on an island with dragons or find a deserted one to live on. Not sure, it depends on what we come across for living conditions regarding food, water, and the types of dragons we encounter. Not all dragons will fall so easily to trusting humans so for now we're just gonna focus on not getting seen and finding a stable place to stay. We can work on a more permanent residence after that," Hiccup informed.

"Sounds good," Astrid nodded.

"Oh, almost forgot..." Hiccup smiled and grabbed something off his back-it was a small leather saddle with two straps. "This was one of the first saddles I made for Toothless that wouldn't work with the stirrups. I fixed the straps on it to extend so it'll work for Stormfly. Gobber was helping Dad earlier after dinner so I had the forge to myself to work on it. Little padding on the bottom so it won't hurt her back and it'll be comfortable for you," he said bringing it over to her. "I even engraved your initials on it,"

"Oh Hiccup, it's beautiful...thank you," Astrid blushed some. Hiccup nodded as he had Stormfly crouch down a bit and he got the saddle on her and then helped Astrid into it as Stormfly stood up to adjust to it slightly.

"How's it feel ladies?" Hiccup inquired to both Stormfly and Astrid.

"It's good. Strong but soft, my legs won't cramp as easily and this handle will make holding on simpler too. How's it feel, girl?" Astrid asked Stormfly who flapped her wings contently with a purr. "I think she likes it too," she smiled.

"Perfect then we should get loaded up and get out of here so we can put some distance between us and the viking villages before the sunrises-it'd be best to travel at night for now," Hiccup stated.

"I agree with you. So should I just tie this stuff to the saddle? Astrid asked him.

"Yeah, we don't want it hanging off them-too much weight and Thor forbid the ropes snap and it falls," Hiccup chuckled a bit as they both started to secure their items to their dragons and then both mounted up. Hiccup took a deep breath looking at her now. "You ready to say goodbye to Berk?" he asked softly.

"I am. Are you?" Astrid replied.

"More than. Let's hit the sky," Hiccup smiled as he patted Toothless's neck, "Silent take off bud," the dragon gave an affirmative nod as he prepared to take to the sky, a few beats of his large wings and they were hovering over the cove and then Stormfly followed suit. Double checking they had everything and it was secured to not fall, they turned Southwest of Berk and flew off into the night sky-ready as ever to take on the world together and start anew.

(Next Morning)

The morning began the sun rising, birds singing, a cool breeze slipping through, and a worried mother's shriek rang throughout the village-awakening everyone from a peaceful slumber. Stoick rushed to the source of the noise, finding it to be the Hofferson residence where a panicking and fear ridden Astilla Hofferson was sobbing in her Asmund's arms.

"What in the name of Thor happened?" Stoick asked quickly, something bad had to of happened for Astilla to be stricken with such grief.

"Astrid is gone, chief." Asmund said as calmly as he could manage.

"What do you mean by _gone_ , Asmund. The lass is always up early trainin' in teh forest with her ax," Gobber informed.

"And we...know that...but she always...let's us know before she leaves the house. She always returns when we wake up for a bath before breakfast...and when we went to check on her, she wasn't in there. The room is cleared out and...we found this on her pillow..." Astilla sobbed against her husband's chest while holding out the letter as Gobber took it to read over.

"I'm sure she couldn't have gone far, we'll form groups and search the island for her..." Stoick said as comfortingly as he could to the woman.

"Uh, Stoick...you may want to ask 'Iccup where she is. This says she left because she wouldn't live here if she couldn't be with Hiccup," Gobber pointed out. "Letter 'ere says: _'Dearest Mother and Father, if you are reading this then I have left. I refuse to marry a man I don't love. Farewell, Astrid'_."

"Why would...Hiccup know where she is?" Snotlout huffed, "She's supposed to marry me,"

"Boy, hush." Spitelout sighed heavily.

"Astrid and Hiccup were dating, why would she marry your son, Spitelout?" Stoick asked.

"Snotlout asked his mother and I to start a contract with the Hofferson's for Astrid's hand, she is of age and my boy can more than take care of her." Spitelout informed.

"You be living the old ways. You know teh laws now, the chief's child gets first pick before they are released to the public and other members of the tribe. Hiccup had first choice in his bride for when he becomes the chief of the island, that contract is void." came the voice of Buffnut Thorston-Ruffnut and Tuffnut's father.

"Let's go see Hiccup, he should still be sleeping." Stoick sighed heavily as the Hofferson's, Jorgenson's, Thorston's, Ingerman's, Stoick, and Gobber moved towards Stoick's house. Stoick moved towards Hiccup's room just under the stairs-it was bigger than his original so he could do his drawing things and inventions. Stoick knocked a few times, "Son?" No answer. "Hiccup? Are you awake son?" he asked as he opened the handle to look in the room. "Hiccup?" Stoick saw the room cleared out. Hiccup's bed was made, everything was off the walls, clothes taken, even the ax and shield his father had given him. All Stoick saw was the helmet he'd given Hiccup yesterday with a note under it. Stoick lifted the note up and began to read it over.

Stoick closed his eyes with a sigh as he walked out to the waiting people wondering where Hiccup was. "Where is he?" Gobber asked.

"He left too, Astrid is with him." Stoick informed as they gasped. "Hiccup left a note too. It reads: ' _I'm not the champion you believe I am, and I'm not the viking son you want me to be-but you were right. I'm no dragon killer, I can't kill the Nightmare-I know I can't. I don't know who I am, so I've left to find my place in the world. Sorry if I've let you down, Dad. Perhaps one day we will meet again. By the way, don't worry about Astrid-she didn't want to marry Snotlout and told her she was welcome to come with me. I assure you that we're safe. Until next time we cross paths, I bid you goodbye. -Hiccup'_."

"Your son took my baby!" Astilla said quickly.

"He most certainly did not. Your daughter chose to leave with him because you tried to marry her off to someone she didn't love! You knew Hiccup and Astrid were together, and he had first choice in bride for when he became chief in two years. Those are the laws, I'd say this whole contract was started because someone was a little jealous." Gobber mentioned with a roll of his eyes towards Snotlout.

"Enough, Gobber. Regardless of the circumstances, it comes to this: Hiccup left Berk to find his place in the world, and according to him-invited Astrid to join because she didn't want to marry Astrid and stay with him At least we know they are together wherever they are. I checked on Hiccup at 11pm-he was in bed then. When did you check Astrid?" Stoick asked.

"11:30pm." Asmund responded.

"It's 6am now, that means they've been off on their own for about five and a half hours." Fishlegs interjected.

"Check the docks for boats missing, someone find out which way the wind was going...they wouldn't have tried to go against it. Look for anything to give us a clue where they might have gone. Buffnut, Boarlegs, Spitelout, and Asmund: pack a bag. Once we get a direction, that's where we'll sail and ask villages along the way if they saw two teenagers sail through." Stoick ordered. The men nodded and split off-they were going to find Hiccup and Astrid no matter what.

(With Hiccup&Astrid)

The two of them flew as far as they could before Astrid began to fall asleep and Hiccup was getting tired himself-the sun was rising behind them so he knew they needed to find a place to land for a while to sleep and rest up. Hiccup looking around below him for an island, they were already past Hysteria Island and Bog Isle. They made good time on their dragons, but needed to stop for the day. Hiccup pulled out his map now to look over it,

"Keep it level for a sec, Toothless..." Hiccup stated gently as the dragon snorted in response. There were a few islands ahead of them, some known to have dragon sightings and others could be deserted but no idea until they got there. "Next island we could go to is about fifteen minutes away-think you can hold that long, babe?" Hiccup looked to Astrid.

With a loud yawn and rubbing her eyes, she nodded to him. "Yeah..." Astrid said tiredly. Hiccup smiled some-it was going to be rough for a while while they looked for a place to call their own. They couldn't just find a deserted island, it had to have the things they'd need to survive on. If nothing else, at least they were together and having their dragons offered a little more protection for them.

(Twenty Minutes Later)

"There it is, Astrid..." Hiccup alerted her quickly as it came into sight. "Good peaks, water, beaches, caves. We should be alright here for the day," he added pulling out his spyglass to give it an overview. The two set down on the beach area cautiously, there seemed to be a cave right off it and plenty of trees for some firewood purposes. As long as the dragons-if any-were friendly then maybe they could stay for a while. The island wasn't big, decent though.

"Cool...I'm just hungry and tired though...I'll admire later, Hiccup." Astrid yawned again, Hiccup smiled some as he got off Toothless and helped her down.

"Go on and sit down over there, I'll set things up for us. I brought stuff to pitch a tent but looks like we have a cave to use," Hiccup smiled, Astrid went to sit down on the rocks while Hiccup took things off Stormfly and then unloaded Toothless. The two dragons got a drink of water from the buckets that Hiccup filled for them, Hiccup also gave them ten fish each while he had Toothless light a lantern and he moved into the cave to look around. Not far in but enough that could hide them and their dragons from sight if ships sailed by. There would be enough space to hide them and their dragons, and looking up he saw a spot smoke could escape the top so they could have a fire in their in case of rain or snow. Nodding approvingly, he walked back out to see Astrid falling asleep against Stormfly.

Hiccup decided to set up their sleeping area in the cave, and then get what he'd need to make a fire ring so they could stay warm. Hiccup took all their gear inside the cave and then moved to Astrid and shook her slightly. "Hm?" she said tiredly.

"Come on, let's get some sleep. I got everything set up in the cave already," Hiccup told her gently offering his hand, Astrid took it as he led her inside where the lantern had things lit dimly for them. Hiccup set her on her sleep pad while he had Toothless light the fire ring since Hiccup collected some sticks and logs laying around to use until they got more. After she was set down with her armor and boots off, Hiccup handed her an apple and few pieces of bread.

"Think we'll be able to stay here for a while?" Astrid asked taking a bite of the bread.

"Seems alright for now, we can investigate more after we sleep and see what we got here but for now it'll work to rest up." Hiccup replied while taking a bite from his orange after peeling it. Astrid nodded as she got through her bread and apple, she tossed the core in the fire to burn before lying down and covering up-Stormfly beside her. "Sleep, Astrid. It's been a long few hours," Hiccup smiled as he kissed her cheek, she nodded and closed her eyes falling to sleep moments later. Hiccup finished his food and laid down as well, "Keep your ears up, bud..." he yawned out. Toothless gave a nod while Hiccup soon fell to sleep as well. So far, things were going really smoothly for them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 4**

~Normal POV~

Awakening the next afternoon around 1pm, it took the two some time to adjust to being on their own. The dragons were fine of course-but Hiccup and Astrid had to wake up and remember they had left Berk and flew six hours past Bog Isle and Hysteria Island to get where they were now, sleeping in a cave with their dragons on bedrolls because they'd runaway to stay together and keep their dragons safe. Upon waking up, usual things were done: relieving themselves and eating breakfast on their rationed food supply until something else was decided on. Relieving themselves had been interesting, for Hiccup it wasn't a problem. Astrid on the other hand hadn't been so easy going on being in the open so Hiccup had Toothless and Stormfly shield her from sight so she could go and then use some cut up cloth to wipe with. Awkward indeed-but they knew they had to get used to it for a while until a more permanent decision could be made.

"So, are we surveying the island today to see if we can live on it?" Astrid asked while they were eating breakfast-actually late lunch which was a few slices of bread toasted over the fire and some yak butter Hiccup had in a small container, they also had some fruit.

"Yeah, we'll take the dragons and get a sky view and judge distances, dragons, and what is here we could use to our advantage..." Hiccup replied while taking a bite of the toast he'd made.

"So what if we can't live here? Just keep searching islands?" Astrid asked, Hiccup nodded-it was all they could do until they found what they were looking for that suited their needs. "You think our parents have started looking for us?"

"Likely. I left my father a note saying I was leaving to find myself and that you were with me," Hiccup replied.

"I left a note too, saying I refused to marry a man I didn't love." Astrid sighed some.

"Do you miss them?" Hiccup asked softly.

"A little-but...I told them I didn't want to marry Snotlout, that I didn't love him. That I loved you, they said there was nothing they could do...what else could I do, Hiccup?...I couldn't stay there...I'd kill him, mercilessly then runaway to escape being put to death or exiled...I can't even imagine him...ugh!" Astrid mumbled angrily, Hiccup knew what she meant-she couldn't ever imagine herself having sex with Snotlout. It made Hiccup sick to think about too-however, Snotlout would have it a lot easier than Hiccup did.

According to viking traditions for marriage, so much had to happen. First it would begin with suitors for Hiccup to choose from-once one was selected they would be checked by the healer to ensure child beating capabilities. After that was completed, the contract would begin between parents for marriage, the groom's family paying the bride price and setting up everything for the wedding. Generally, it was planned to be during a woman's fertile week in order for a child to be conceived as soon as possible for the sake of the new chief having an Heir. The worst thing about Hiccup marrying anyone was that if he was still on Berk as Stoick's Heir-once the wedding and party were over, Hiccup would have had to make love to his new wife in front of the village except children under eighteen years old. It was to prove legitimacy of the marriage and that if the woman fell pregnant soon after-the child was indeed their child and that child was the new Heir to the new chief.

Hiccup didn't think he'd ever could do something like that, making love was supposed to be an intimate thing between two people-not a show for the village to watch! Thankfully, since and Astrid were away from Berk-if they got married then it wouldn't matter because Hiccup wasn't Heir anymore since he left Berk. Sure, it was in his blood to be Stoick's son but with him gone-it didn't matter. If Hiccup and Astrid got married-they could keep their love making to themselves. Hiccup pulled her close into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"Easy does it there, Astrid," Hiccup chuckled some. "You don't have to worry about him anymore, it's just us out here. No tribe, no marriage contracts, no worries except ourselves finding a place to call our own." he reminded gently. Astrid smiled and leaned against him comfortably.

"I know, but it still makes me mad that if you hadn't invited me to come...I'd be stuck marrying him. I could never give myself to him, never...I'd kill him as soon as he tried," Astrid mumbled a bit.

"I know. You're safe now, Milady. I'll protect you," Hiccup turned her head a bit and kissed her deeply.

"My brave dragon boy," Astrid said blushing after the kiss ended. "I love you, Hiccup." she looked up at him.

"I love you too, Astrid," Hiccup smiled at her-the two finished their lunch and then mounted up to check out the island given it was daytime now. Taking everything in-it really was a beautiful island. Lush trees and fields, but a lot of rocks and water, low points that could easily flood with too much rain. Aside all that-the island was riddled with Scauldrons. A dragon that could heat water in it's belly and melt the flesh off a human. Hiccup tried to train it but it wasn't having it so they made a mental note that they'd stay long enough to rest the rest of the day but they'd have to leave at nightfall again to find something else.

(With Stoick&Guys)

Stoick, Boarlegs-Fishlegs's father, Spitelout, Buffnut, and Asmund were all on the ship sailing Southeast because according to reports, that was where the winds were going the night before-they'd left just before lunch and currently they were almost to Meathead Isle-home of the Meathead tribe.

"I hope we find them," Asmund sighed.

"I do too. You should have come to me, Asmund. I could have changed this entire situation," Stoick mentioned.

"I don't think you could have, Stoick. Hiccup didn't leave because Astrid was getting engaged to Snotlout, he left to find himself-because he says he isn't the viking son you wanted or a dragon killer. Maybe he felt like he had to go find who he was-and going alone was his best option. Astrid confronted him about the unwanted engagement and since he was planning to leave-he invited her to go. It enabled them to stay together, Astrid to avoid marriage to Snotlout, and Hiccup still got to leave." Boarlegs informed calmly.

"Whatever the reason; we have two teenagers out on their own, one of which is the next chief to Berk and the other clearly the one who wants to be beside him no matter what." Stoick replied. Nodding in agreement as they pulled into the Meathead docks, the chief, Mogadon met them there with his son, Thuggary.

"Greeting, Stoick-what brings you by unannounced?" the man smiled as he and Stoick shook hands.

"My apologies, Mogadon. Bit of a situation-my son and the woman he loves ran away late last night. Was wondering if they passed through here?" Stoick inquired.

"Young Hiccup?" Mogadon asked, Stoick nodded. "And the girl?"

"Astrid Hofferson-Asmund's little girl. Blond hair, blue eyes." Spitelout spoke up now.

"I'll check with the guards if they saw anything-but nothing was reported in our waters, come. Let's see what we can find out," Mogadon invited as the men all walked away to speak to the guards from the night before. Two hours later, they had nothing. Hiccup and Astrid had never been spotted sailing in their direction, loading up the ship once more-they moved on to continuing towards Outcast Island, after that it would be Berserk Isle. After that they'd have to think of something else to locate the runaway kids.

(Outcast Island)

Stoick wasn't looking forward to this. Alvin and him were old friends but things changed after Stoick became chief of Berk then cast Alvin out after a situation in a raid ended with a few _injuries_. The two weren't on good terms but Stoick was willing to check anywhere for his son. Reaching the docks, the greeting was met with weapons on them as Alvin walked up with a scowl.

"Berk finally get rid of you?" Alvin asked.

"I'm not here on pleasure, Alvin. I'm looking for my son and his girlfriend-they ran away from the island just after midnight. Mogadon didn't see them, were they through here?" Stoick asked him.

"If they did, we didn't see them. We had a raid last night," Alvin informed.

"Would you mind if we checked around to see if they docked anywhere and are hiding out?" Asmund inquired, "Please? He has my daughter,"

"For the last time, Asmund. Hiccup didn't take her hostage! He invited her to go and clearly she accepted it to get out of your arranged marriage which was illegal to begin with," Stoick huffed at the man.

"Runaway lovers ey?" Alvin chuckled some, "What the hell, we're old pals. You can check the island, my men will help."

"Thank you," Stoick gave a nod to him. From there, a few took ships around to check beaches and caves while the rest checked other areas that would go unseen during a raid. After another three hours, there was nothing to show that two teens had ever been there. The time was now 9pm, late and a storm was coming in.

"Storm blowin' in, Stoick. You shouldn't try to sail through on to Berserk Isle," Alvin warned.

"And if I can just add, if they weren't at Meathead or here then it is probable to say they didn't come this way given your time frame," Savage-Alvin's second in command offered.

"You said they had to of left after midnight by ship and would have come through here because the winds were coming this way from Berk. It only takes an hour and a half to get to Meathead from Berk with the winds with you. Another two hours to sail here from there, and it's another almost three and a half hours onto Berserk Isle. Around 5am, the winds through here were going North," one of Alvin's guards stated.

Stoick sighed heavily now, "You've had a long day, stay here the night and ride out the storm. The lad might be a hiccup, but your boy ain't a fool, Stoick-he knew you'd likely look for him and the girl. He doesn't want to be found and he'll do everything he has to in order to ensure that he isn't," Alvin told him.

"I still have to try, Alvin. He's my only son and Heir to Berk..." Stoick replied.

"I understand-but Berk can't lose the current chief they have. Stay tonight and start tomorrow when the storm passes," Alvin informed. Stoick nodded, not having much choice. Alvin was right, Hiccup could be anywhere either South or North of Berk depending on winds or storms. Alvin gave them a place to stay in for the night and the old chief let sleep take him around 11pm after they got something to eat. Stoick just wanted to find his son, and Astrid-bring them both home.

(The Scauldron Island)

After their run through of the island and determining that it wasn't safe to stay on because of the hostile dragons residing there-they returned to the cave to pack up and continue to sleep until 8pm. Hiccup and Astrid had a late dinner for them and their dragons before mounting up and heading out again by 9pm. Four hours of flying and putting them at midnight, there was another island that from the sky at least looked like it would be safe enough to land on so they get some sleep and not wake up at noon time the next day again. The only bad thing about this island was that there didn't appear to be any caves to sleep in but it was a clear night so they could rough it on the beach like area.

"It'll do for tonight," Hiccup sighed some-this was gonna be hard for them to find a place to live on because it had to be a place that could allow them to build shelter and live off the provisions provided there. Not to mention, they'd have to at some point or another get to a viking village to get supplies to build with.

"It's fine with me, I'm just tired..." Astrid yawned as they landed softly and took the bags off then set up a small fire ring to cook on. By 2am they had eaten and were back to sleep with their dragons guarding them on a light sleep.

(Next Morning)

When they woke up, it was more of the same with relieving themselves and getting something to eat before figuring out where they were and with island patrol-see if they could live here without a problem. No caves was making it seem not so promising so far. The time was about 9am after eating and relaxing a bit-Hiccup had his map out to overlook a few things.

"We're almost to the edge of the Archipelago boundaries for the Southwest direction..." Hiccup stated out of the blue, Astrid came over to look at what he meant. "See, right here. This is where we are, on this island because I marked the Scauldron island after we discovered they were there. There is this island looking to be about an hour away-then one after that and that would be the edge of Archipelago boundaries," he informed her.

"Well, what if we went more South? There's two more islands on the other side of Scauldron island," Astrid used her finger to point now, "And another up here on the West line before we'd enter Northwest of Berk which would lead to Murderous Mountains," she added.

"True...Looks like there's about a few islands in the Northern side from us but I don't want us crossing Murderous, they don't ally with anyone." Hiccup sighed.

"I know. And this is the supposed location of the dragon's nest your dad was always looking for," Astrid pointed out.

"We don't want to be going that way. Going East has it's own problems too. Southeast of Berk is Meathead, Outcast, and Berserk. Then heading up from there would land us at Peaceable county but I doubt there'd be peace with us on dragon back. We have to try and stay Southwest, it's safer for us in the long run. Let's check out the islands first and just make a list of what each has to offer-we can decide from there if we need to change direction or not," Hiccup suggested.

"I agree to that, so this one so far has no caves but it could have other things. I mean it's not like we'd be living cave life forever," Astrid reminded.

"This is also true-but it would offer us some cover from rain until we build shelter. However, we only didn't see anything last night-there could be caves to be seen now that its daylight. Let's go take a sky view and see what we're working with here," Hiccup offered. Astrid nodded as they mounted up and began another patrol to see if this island would be livable for them. Until they found something suitable for them and their dragons, this was all they could do.

(Two Months Later)

Many storms, or passing ships on the waters prevented them from doing their island searches because they had to stay hidden and out of the sky-they couldn't even fly at night due to storms. On top of that, Astrid and Hiccup both got sick for a week each. Astrid first and then Hiccup after her-that kept them both down for two weeks while the rest was just traveling or staying hidden from the sight of humans. However, all that got them where they were now. A large island just before the Archipelago boundary-it was still in the Southwestern direction of Berk so they were in their ideal location to avoid vikings and having distance between themselves and their former home.

On their journeys leaving the island after the Scauldron one, there was a larger one with two little add on islands beside it. This island almost had everything they needed except water and beach space, there was close to no grass or fields either. Leaving that island they moved more South to try the two islands on the right side of the Scauldron island. Both of them from the sky appeared to look like a dragon's claw and sure enough-they were dragon infested, good for dragons but now humans. There was another island about four hours away from that returning towards the Southwest location, it was good but lacked trees they'd for shade, firewood, and building wood. This brought them to where they were now.

A large island that sat an hour away from the Archipelago's boundary. This island had trees, fields, mountains, beach areas, caves, a good supply of food, wildlife, plenty of salt and freshwater. It was perfect for them, bigger than they needed but it would work so they could finally settle down from their search and begin working on housing so they wouldn't have to sleep in the caves. They had already been there for three days and loved it, the dragon's did too. And as a bonus, all the dragons they found weren't as hostile with them. They saw Toothless and Stormfly being friendly with the humans so they trusted them too. This island had everything they needed to live and survive.

"Well, it took two months babe-but here we are. A place we can call our own to live on peacefully with our dragons and the ones who reside here," Hiccup smiled as Astrid as leaned against his chest while his arms were around her waist.

"I know, I can't believe it...So, what's our first step?" Astrid inquired.

"First, we need get some supplies and that involves going to a viking village unfortunately. We'll be needing a boat for sailing purposes-big and strong enough to hide the dragons below. Also, we have to hide our appearances. Anyone who sees us or me at least will know who I'm the son of..." Hiccup sighed heavily.

"Well, given how dark your hair is-you shouldn't try to go lighter...black could work. My hair can likely go light brown, I know how to make the temporary color dye. It washes out as soon as it's wet so we have to hope it doesn't rain," Astrid informed him. "What village will we go to, we don't have anything to make a ship with..."

"Well, we our shields and I have my ax-we can use that for some metal to make nails. All I need is a stick, rock, and rope to make a hammer. The problem is hoping we have enough metal to force a ship that can hold us and our dragons-if not then we may have to leave them on the island while we sail..." Hiccup stated.

"Will they be okay if we do that?" Astrid asked a little concerned to leave Stormfly by herself.

"They are dragons, they know how to survive on their own-they'd work together to keep each other safe. We might not have a choice, Astrid. Without certain supplies then we can't survive out here. I can get us a small ship for us and a small basket of food and change of clothes to sail on-we just can't take our dragons. It's too risky to fly them to an island, hide them, then leave people wondering how we got there without a ship..." Hiccup replied.

"But if we get stuck in a storm on a small ship, we're left without a way to get back here to our dragons..." Astrid reminded. That was true too.

"I see your point and you just gave me a great idea," Hiccup smiled as Astrid arched a brow curiously at him now. "We can take the dragons to Bog Isle or Hysteria and hide them, but we have to make it seem like we were shipwrecked and swam to shore...we could ask them for a ship to get back-then leave under the cover of night on the ship, with supplies, and the dragons."

"That could work. Hiccup, we have nothing to trade or pay with..." Astrid sighed, "I only brought thirty coins with me,"

"I brought my entire savings from when Gobber started paying me to work for him in the forge. I've got about four hundred and fifty on me-we'll have enough to get what we need to get started. I can always track down trader Johann and put our island on his route for supplies too-we'll make this work, Astrid. I promise we will," Hiccup assured her. Astrid nodded as she leaned up to kiss him.

"I trust you, Hiccup. So when do we leave?" Astrid inquired.

"Let's give ourselves another day to rest up before a trip back. Bog Isle is closer to us and by dragon flight if we left early morning-we can likely reach it thirteen or so hours and it would be best to arrive at night, better chance to hide the dragons in a beach cave or something." Hiccup said. Astrid nodded as the two of them continued to make place about how to build the island to what they needed to survive and live on. This was going to be their new home and they'd need a lot to get started so they began making a list of what the would absolutely need to get started. When nightfall hit, they went to sleep after eating and then the next morning at 6am just as the sun was rising-they left for Bog Isle, if their timing was right they would reach it by 8pm or so since they would have to stop halfway to eat lunch and continue going.

It paid off that Hiccup remembered Bog Isle from trips with his father, he knew exactly where he could hide the dragons and make it seem like they were shipwrecked. Astrid had what they needed to alter their hair color. Hiccup's would be black and her own would be a caramel brown color. They just had to make sure not to get their hair wet or the whole thing would be ruined. This was their third step in their plan to start new lives: first was running away, second was finding a place to live, now it was time to gather supplies and tools to build their new home to their vision. They had a lot of work ahead of them-but they knew it would all be worth it in the end.


	5. Chapter 5

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 5**

~Normal POV~

Stoick was back on Berk after the first few weeks of searching-he couldn't be away for long periods of time given he was the chief of the island and they did need him. Stoick had other ways of searching-he sent letters out to all the other leaders of islands asking if they'd seen Hiccup or Astrid there-but thus far, there had been no responses when the two month mark hit. The old chief was beginning to lose hope he'd ever see his son again, the Hofferson's were lost in grief that they couldn't find Astrid either-the blame had stopped being passed around between the two families. Astilla and Asmund knew they were wrong to try and marry Astrid off to Snotlout when the chief's son, Hiccup under law was allowed to pick his bride first and then if he hadn't picked Astrid-she would have been free to marry others. However, they knew Astrid was with Hiccup, dating him and they still agreed to the contract even though it hadn't been finalized-it was enough for her to leave with Hiccup to avoid arranged marriage.

Stoick couldn't figure out Hiccup's letter-the boy had been a dragon training champion! Stoick was so proud of his son, he was the viking son that Stoick always hoped he'd become with time-yet according to the letter, Hiccup wasn't a champion nor was he the son Stoick wanted him to be. Hiccup stated that he didn't know who he was-but he wasn't a dragon killer and left to find out just who he really was, and Astrid went with him to avoid marriage. The only other thing said was that they were safe and perhaps one day they would meet again. Stoick wanted to search again but felt like it would just be more of the same-no leads to follow. Even if he got one, Hiccup seemed to be way ahead of them no matter what. What did that leave for him to do? Sit around, run his village, and pray to Odin that Hiccup returned soon. The only problem was that Hiccup was supposed to start chief training when he turned eighteen-then take over Berk by nineteen with a wife at his side.

Stoick could of course continue to run Berk-but he'd had to either have another child or claim another Heir to Berk if Hiccup didn't return by the time his eighteenth birthday hit. Hiccup had only just turned seventeen three months ago, so if Hiccup didn't come back in nine months, Stoick would have to make another choice. He could choose anyone as long as they were of age to train for the position, but he wanted Hiccup to be chief-it was a father's greatest moment to see his child marry and follow in the father's footsteps. All Stoick could do was hope that Hiccup returned to Berk.

(With Hiccup & Astrid)

As planned, the two of them left at 6am that morning to head for Bog Isle and stopped halfway for lunch before continuing on. It was dark when they arrived, almost 8:15pm while the two watched from above as guards finished patrolling a beach area and then they landed and hid their dragons in the cave with some fish and water. Hiccup and Astrid already had their hair changed for the sake of hiding their identities and using a a few pieces of wood to hold onto in the water so they didn't get their hair wet and made it seem like they were shipwrecked survivors.

"Ready?" Hiccup asked her, she nodded while shivering-the water was near freezing. Hiccup nodded as they made themselves look weak and tired as if they'd been there a while, "Help!" he called out while Astrid started coughing. They could see torches lit and making their way close to the beach again. "Help us!"

"Who's there?!" a guard demanded trying to see better. Hiccup got the wood to land and he as well as Astrid coughed hard, shivering while kneeling on the ground trying to stay warm.

"Ou-our ship was...destroyed b-by a dra-dragon...we've been in the wa-water for hours..." Astrid stammered out through her chattering teeth.

"Let's take them to the chieftess," suggested another guard. They then helped Hiccup and Astrid up and led them into the main part of the island to a house near the village square. A guard knocked on the door and waited, a large woman stood there after opening the door. "These two washed up on the beach, chieftess. Dragon destroyed their ship," he informed.

"Come, bring them inside to warm up." the woman said quickly, the guards led them inside and had them sit by the fire with blankets wrapped around them. "Continue patrols," she ordered, the guards left and the door was shut. "You two are so young, what tribe do you originate from?"

"W-we don't...have a tribe. Abandoned on a deserted island North of here when we were only eleven..." Astrid began, her voice returning to normal now as the warmth was setting in.

"Why in the name of Odin would you have been abandoned?" came a younger voice now, they two looked and recognized her to be Camicazi-the Heiress to Bog Isle. Her mother was chieftess, the woman before them was known as Bertha Boggs.

"We were...runts of our families-they believed it would bring them trouble, the elder suggested removing us from the island to stop their raids. The next afternoon we were placed on a ship with clothes, basket of some food, and sent off. We crashed on another island and made shelter for ourselves and have been there ever since-we make our way around to get supplies to continue surviving there..." Hiccup explained.

"That's terrible, how cruel to abandon you children so young. You look my age, seventeen or so." Camicazi smiled at them.

"Yes, we are...it's been a long hard few years but we manage...a raid just destroyed a lot of what we built so we came out in search of anyone willing to help us out...we can build ourselves-just need supplies and things to get started again..." Astrid mentioned softly.

"Mother, we have to help them." Camicazi insisted quickly.

"I agree completely-but we cannot simple give away either. I trust you understand," Bertha looked to them gently.

"We didn't expect it would be free, ma'am...we have...some money-other times we've traveled, we worked for the things we received..." Astrid nodded.

"What types of things do you need?" Bertha asked.

"Metal, seeds to plant, tools to build and farm with, fabrics to make clothes..." Hiccup said.

"And a way to bring it back with," Astrid added.

"So you'd be requiring a ship..." Bertha said as she tapped her chin some. "Do you two have any skills that would allow you to work for a bit?" she inquired.

"I can sew, cook, clean, and work with herbal remedies..." Astrid replied.

"I have forge skills, cooking, and hunting too." Hiccup said afterwards.

"I'll make you a deal," Bertha began. "If you two are willing to work for a few weeks and pay for the ship, I will give you the rest that you need for no money at all."

"We accept, thank you so much." Astrid smiled as she shook hands with Bertha, then Hiccup did.

"What are your names?" Camicazi asked now.

"I'm Hedvig Olovsan and this is my girlfriend, Alva Vintmar," Hiccup introduced,

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Bertha Boggs, chieftess of the island and this is my daughter, Camicazi Boggs." Bertha introduced. "Let's get you two set up in a place to stay for a few weeks," she added with a smile. After that point, they were given something to eat and then taken to a small shack towards the forest edge to stay in. The two were proud of themselves-a few weeks on Bog Isle and they'd have what they needed to get started with. Hiccup would locate Johann on Toothless and set up that the man could ferry supplies to them as needed-for now this was all they could do.

(A Month Later)

As she'd promised, Bertha had them working in areas they could as she supplied the things they said they needed in crates or baskets, loading them on a ship that Hiccup and Astrid had paid sixty coins for. It had been hard to see their dragons but they managed to avoid guards and being seen to feed them and visit a while-but never long. As the month ended-Hiccup and Astrid had everything they needed to at least build a place to live, make some clothes, plant some food. The village healer gave Astrid a book on herbs and things she could make with them, and the forge master threw in a little extra for Hiccup to actually build his own forge-more than he was expecting but he wouldn't argue with it. Have a forge of their own opened up a lot of options for them as far as building things and keeping their island safe.

The ship was ready to sail, everyone was loaded up. Now Hiccup and Astrid just had to get their dragons on it get away before anyone saw where they were going. It was early morning, close to 3am-the guard switch was about to happen and that is when they were going to get away for Bog Isle.

"I feel bad just leaving," Astrid frowned some as they were packing up to leave.

"I know, I do too...but we don't have a choice. We can't risk them following us to our island and we can't keep wearing the disguise to hide ourselves. We knew it wouldn't be easy to be runaways and that our particular lifestyle means that we don't have a lot of interaction with people. One day we'll show people the truth but right now it's too soon. We need to stabilize ourselves so we have a place to escape to if they don't listen,"

"I understand," Astrid sighed some, Hiccup pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. Astrid blushed and kissed him back-the two staying locked in that for a few moments before breaking it to smile at one another. "So we leave at the guard switch?"

"Yeah, it's the only way to leave and not be seen. The sail back will be a bit long-but I'm thinking we might be able to use the dragons to go faster and if they get tired we can set down on the ship for a while." Hiccup reminded, Astrid nodded as they continued to pack and make sure they had everything they needed. They sat there relaxing for about thirty minutes before it was time for guard switch-the two grabbed their bags and made their way to the docks where their boat was, untied it and headed towards the beach where their dragons were. They got them and sailed back Southeast-within the hour, they were out of Bog Isle waters and it was still dark to cover them while they continued on back to their island.

(A Few Days Later)

They finally reached their island with the ship and thankfully the journey was only as short as it was because they used their dragons to pull it along faster through the water. Docking on the beach-they'd never been happier to be what they considered as home. First thing they did was pull the ship onto land, they wouldn't need it for a while while they built everything.

"Good to be back." Hiccup sighed out relaxing on against a rock, Astrid beside him.

"You know, babe. If this is where we're gonna live-I think we should name it," she suggested softly.

"You mean like, claim it as our own?" Hiccup inquired as she nodded to him. "Huh, guess you're right. What should we call it?" he questioned looking over at her.

"Well, I was thinking...Cloud Rider Isle? Because we live here, we ride dragons and can ride the clouds. Something like...not having limits, going where we want, having...freedom to be ourselves, and who we really are?" Astrid suggested. Hiccup thought a moment and then smiled at her.

"Know what, I like it a lot. It does represent us. Okay then, Cloud Rider Isle it is." Hiccup chuckled as he kissed her gently.

"And you're the new chief!" Astrid laughed, Hiccup only shook his head with a smile. "You're the only one who really can be chief, it's just us and the dragons. Plus, you've already got the status to be one since you're Stoick's Heir. We claimed this island as ours-to share with the dragons. All this was your doing, your plan-only fair that you're it's chief." she explained.

"Well, we run the island together with the dragons. There's no chief without a tribe-I doubt we'll have people wanting to join us," Hiccup reminded.

"But you've got me and as long as there is two of us, we can be a tribe all our own...besides, you and I could always...add more members later on," Astrid hinted some with a playful grin.

"Let's not rush it. We got a lot of work to do before we go...making more work for ourselves. Like I said before on Bog Isle: once we get stabilized, we'll work more on other things..." Hiccup said gently.

"I was in no rush, Hiccup. I'm just saying-we ran away to stay together, start a life all our own. So I'd hope eventually we can get married and have kids," Astrid said.

"One day. Gonna be hard to get married unless we go to another island to do it on," Hiccup stated.

"Not necessarily. With you're status as Heir, once we turn eighteen-you could marry us. We're runaways, Hiccup. We don't have to adhere to the viking village laws because we don't have a village. It's just us and the dragons, even if we had a village with other humans-you'd be chief because you found the island and made it livable for others. The minute we accepted dragons as friends, rode them-we're not vikings anymore." Astrid explained.

"I suppose you're right there but regardless-let's just worry about getting this place livable for us with a house, and farming. We can add on later," he pulled her close to him. Astrid nodded, this was their life now-no one could stop them from being together, no one could tell them what to do anymore! It was just them and their dragons on an island that was no only beautiful but also perfect to live on for both species.

(Six Months Later)

Nine months total since they left Berk and started anew on Cloud Rider Isle. In so little time-they had done so much for it. The first thing they did was find a place to start it all, Hiccup found one that allowed them to be up high enough to see the entire island-it was also flat and easy to access. When that area was marked, they next thing they did was start picking spots for the forge, weaponry, barn, and farming. Hiccup even made an area for Stormfly and Toothless that would be in his and Astrid's house. The two decided they would save materials by living together and sharing a room, it wasn't awkward to them since they'd been doing it before hand. Once all building areas had been marked, the first thing they did was start planting things so they could begin growing.

This took two weeks to clear the area, plow it, clear it into sections for the different vegetables and fruits to grow. They set it up for one side to grow vegetables, the other for fruits. Hiccup kept everything organized on pieces of paper and labeled the fields with paint mixtures on sticks. After another two weeks, they had everything planted and knew it would take a while but at least it was a start. That took one month for them to complete, the second thing they did was work on their house. A two level home where there was mainly bedrooms and a washroom upstairs, on the main level there was: Hiccup's office for drawing and island managing, another two bedrooms and washroom, the kitchen, living area and two places for their dragons. Not stables but an area they could sleep and rest in at night.

Their house took two months to build in total but it had everything they needed to live comfortably including furniture. After this was done, they worked on the forge-because it didn't take long at all thanks to the blacksmith on Bog Isle giving Hiccup a lot of the materials he needed to start a forge of his own. What took the most time was building the smoke stack, walls, doors, small office in back, store area, and windows. With some help from the Gronckles on the island-Hiccup made something clear to put on the windows to act as a cover barrier from the cold-he called it glass and found it was very breakable under to much force. This was something they used in their house too now.

Slightly off the forge was a weapons store house which Hiccup kept organized himself for shields, swords, maces, bolas, spears, ax's, and daggers. The final building the made in the last month to make it six since returning from Bog Isle with the materials was a barn, fenced in area that came off the barn, and then a chicken coup on the second area higher up in the barn. After that was built they went out on their dragons to round up animals to keep in it. After four days of herding they had: ten chickens, four yaks-two females and two males, they had six sheep, four boars, and three goats. All of that took six months but they could finally say they had a place to stay and it was totally livable for them.

Hiccup even managed to set up guard perches and trained Terrible Terrors to guard the island, there were eight of them-one each of a different color that corresponded to a direction. Hiccup made set up feeding stations for Toothless and Stormfly, and a water system to their house, barn, and forge. Hiccup and Astrid together made plates, cups, utensils, baskets, troughs, stables to separate the animals. Their little home looked amazing and felt great to be in-nothing could make this better for them. With everything built and running smooth-they could officially say that their new lives had started and would only get better from there.


	6. Chapter 6

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 6**

~Normal POV~

They couldn't believe an entire year had passed since they left Berk and they still never regretted their choice to leave that island behind. Cloud Rider Isle was thriving with dragons, and even a few people who stumbled upon it who saw the truth and made a new choice. Hiccup and Astrid had been living on Cloud Rider Isle for twelve months-technically eleven because they spent a month on Bog Isle to get the things to make their island into a stable home to live on. The two of them were nineteen-turning twenty in five months and happy as ever having been together two years and would be three in seven months. There had been a lot of changed in the six months from when they finished building their house, the forge, the barn, and farming area-such as the twenty five people living on the island now.

It happened about a month after they'd gotten settled, a ship crashed on the island-first instinct for Hiccup and Astrid was to keep their dragons hidden in their house until they knew what was going on. This ship was carrying two fisherman and hunter families, one with three members and the other with four. Apparently it was a yearly trip they took together because the families had known each other since the times of their great grandparents. A storm blew them off course and damaged the ship-making it unable to slow down before the crash. Hiccup wasn't mad, he wanted to help them so he used his skills to help repair their ship and let them stay on the island in the caves which Hiccup renovated slightly to keep out cold gusts and sustain a campfire. It took a week to fix the ship and in that time, these people saw the dragons residing on the island and were intrigued by the fact they weren't attacking it like other islands had problems with them.

Hiccup and Astrid decided to take a chance and tell them about the peace that could be acquired between dragons and humans if only the two were willing to work together. The families were astounded and shocked when Hiccup revealed they actually dragons of their own, showing them the friendship they had between each other. Hiccup said he could show them how to live the same way, and even offered them a place there but they had to agree to leave their old ways of associating with dragons behind them. At first, they were going to deny the offer-but when the five year old met a baby Gronckle-the families saw the truth with their own eyes and decided they wanted to stay on Cloud Rider Isle to learn the truth and have peace with dragons. Total residents on the island became nine that day, and more work began to get them a place to stay. This involved taking a trip to locate Johann, and also going to the Hysteria Island under Hiccup's alter name and look to get more supplies. With the extra hands to help, the two houses were built to the families individual needs within four weeks-the dragons helped too.

About two weeks after that, Hiccup and Astrid had a dangerous group come to the island-vikings who originally lived outside the Archipelago and were in the business of capturing dragons to hurt, kill, or sell them. Hiccup took another chance to show them the truth and by the Gods-it had worked. The group had been a ship full of dragon hunters led by a man named Viggo Grimborn and his second in command was his older brother, Ryker Grimborn. Total island resident reached twenty after they moved in. With the island having this many people now-as it had once been discussed between himself and Astrid, Hiccup was naturally the chief because he found the island and then he as well Astrid built it to what it was now. Astrid was considered the chieftess-but the two of them weren't married so in the eyes of others wouldn't see her that way. Also after Viggo and Ryker moved in-a tribe name was put in place.

Skywing Tribe. Based on the fact that they could touch the sky on the wings of their dragons. It took another two months to build the places needed to hold the new members, hard because eleven people required their own places-but to make things a little easier, some doubled up like Ryker and Viggo had. On Hiccup's count now there were seven girls and thirteen men on the island. As with joining the tribe, Hiccup and Astrid would agree to teach them how to ride dragons and have peace with them. Not everyone wanted a dragon of their own but were happy to live in peace and work with them. Everything was working out better than they expected it too, only about five months it took to be where they were and it only got better when another family of three had come in hopes of just repairing their ship but ended up staying when they staying after they saw everything. The final big thing to happen to bring their tribe to twenty five was two twin boys-not identical-washing up on the shore and found by one of the fishermen. It happened just a month ago after the family of three decided to stay.

 _ **=Flashback=**_

" _Can you believe we've been here this long, it's amazing and more so that those two kids built it!" said Corey Oliversen, the fishermen who had a wife named, Thyra and seven year old son named, Brant._

" _I know, it's nice to not have to worry about raids-who knew such peace was possible? I'm still astounded by the story the chief had for us when we asked how they came to be here," came Albin Haugen's voice-the father in the new family who had just arrived. Albin had a four year old son by the name of Edvin and then his wife-who was three months pregnant, answered to the name of Frida._

" _Not a worry in the world here. Good friends, dragons, rulers...loving life," Corey smiled._

" _Daddy! There's two boys over there on the beach," announced little Brant, Corey's son._

" _Two boys?" Albin questioned as both men pulled in their lines and hurried over behind Brant to see two boys laying unconscious in the sand. "We must get the chief!" he exclaimed, "I'll go," he added rushing off to get Hiccup._

 _Everyone on the island knew Hiccup and Astrid by their actual names-when agreeing to live on Cloud Rider Isle, it was part of the deal. They weren't allowed to tell anyone outside of the tribe who they were and if newcomers came to use the names Hedvig and Alva Olovsan, also never mention the dragons. Hiccup had to know who he could trust-besides that, some people came by and didn't stay. Hiccup only told visitors the truth if they asked to know why the dragons weren't attacking, there was no point giving away their secret if people weren't interesting in staying for good. Astrid kept a healthy stash of the hair dye for them for those exact situations-no one needed to know unless they truly wanted to know the truth and had desire to change their way of life._

 _Albin rushed to the forge where Hiccup was likened to be-always working on new things for the village. "Chief!" Albin panted heavily._

" _Woah, easy there...What's going on?" Hiccup asked hearing the urgency in Albin's tone._

" _Two...boys washed...up on...the Western beach. Both unconscious..." Albin explained the best he could._

" _What?" Hiccup asked a little concerned, "Toothless, let's go bud! You get some water and take a few breaths," he instructed Albin-who nodded slowly, Hiccup jumped on Toothless's back and they headed straight for the beach-he landed there and got off quickly to check on the boys. By the time he got there, Viggo and Ryker were there as well-they were Hiccup's main guards and worked with the Terrible Terror sentries to guard the island._

" _They are alive, chief Hiccup. What should we do with them?" Ryker asked him after seeing he was there._

" _They can't be older than ten," Corey pointed out._

" _Let's bring them to Astrid, she can look over them and tend to injuries. When they wake up, we can figure out what happened..." Hiccup stated, Viggo and Ryker nodded-each lifting a boy into their arms and starting their path to Astrid's small shack where she tended anyone who got hurt. Something that Hiccup built for her since she was the only one with the knowledge to take care of a lot of illnesses, or injuries._

 _The walk was fifteen minutes but they reached it and Hiccup opened the door, "Hey, babe. What brings you by? Hurt yourself in the forge again?" Astrid giggled a bit._

" _For once, it's not me. These two boys washed up on the beach. Corey's son found them, we don't know long they were in the water or how long they've been there. Corey said he arrived on the North beach to fish an hour ago, Brant had been playing by rocks and saw them," Hiccup informed softly._

" _Oh my. Here, set them down on these beds boys..." Astrid told Ryker and Viggo as she walked over to draw back the covers, the two guards set the young boys down and stepped back. Astrid looked over both, checking for pulse and fever it seemed. After ten minutes of silence and worry, Astrid sighed some, "No fever, and just small cuts on arms, legs, and face. Their clothes are dry so they had to be out of the water a few hours prior to being found. Luckily it's warmer here in the Southern waters, they might be in worse shape if the sun hadn't kept them warm."_

" _That's somewhat of a relief. I want to know how they got there, we're miles from any islands North of us, the closest one is five hours away at the dragon hatching grounds. I don't assume they came from there," Hiccup stated while thinking on it._

" _We won't know until they wake up, Love. I'll keep them here with me and let you know," Astrid smiled as she kissed his cheek._

"Alright, I better go let the village know about what happened because I'm sure it's gotten around by know we have two washed up kids on the island." Hiccup told her with a light smile before he kissed her and left the shack. True to his word, he let the others know what was going on and informed them that as soon as he had an update-he would let them know. The hours ticked by bringing them dinner at 5pm before Hiccup heard from Astrid again.

" _Hiccup!" she called out when she saw him flying over to go to the dinner hall. Now unlike Berk, Cloud Rider Isle didn't eat dinner as a tribe unless it was a big event which none of them had just yet except when they celebrated the naming of the island. All families could eat in their own homes, once a week-residents would visit the food store hours by house to pick food to get them through the week and then their jobs to pay for said food would be to go out hunting, fishing, or farming to replace what was taken. This was how Hiccup instilled jobs, as well as making sure the stock never lessened for them. No one minded it in the slightest either-it was actually very smart._

 _Hiccup also used the rocks their village was secured in to make caves and convert them into small two person bedrooms, slight storage, area to relieve ones self, and there walls and doors. It was a temporary stay area for visitors to the island, Hiccup didn't bother to hide the dragons-he wanted people to be curious about it and see the truth but he'd never force them to._

 _Hearing Astrid call for him, he turned Toothless and flew down in front of of her healer shack and dismounted his dragon-giving him three fish and patting his head. "What's up?" he questioned her._

" _The boys are waking up, they were a little panicked at first but I calmed them down and gave them some bread to eat. I haven't asked them anything yet," Astrid enlightened him gently._

" _Well, let's go find out what we can together then." Hiccup said offering his hand to her, she smiled and they entered the shack together. "Hi there," he greeted the boys who were both sitting up and eating a few pieces of bread with a cup of water each._

" _He-Hello sir," said a boy with caramel brown hair and green eyes replied hesitantly._

" _It's alright, you don't need to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you, my name is Hiccup and this is Astrid...who might you two be?" Hiccup inquired with a soft smile._

" _U-Um...I'm Tore, and this...my brother, Hagen...we're twins but not identical," spoke Tore, the one with caramel brown hair and green eyes._

" _I can see that. Can you tell me how old you are?" Hiccup asked._

" _We're...both nine, sir..." Hagen answered now after swallowing his bread with some water-he had dark brown hair and hazel eyes it seemed from what Hiccup could tell._

" _H-How did...we get here?" Tore questioned with a head tilt._

" _You washed up on our beach, and had been there for a while since your clothing was dry. We were hoping you could tell us what happened to you two?" Astrid said now looking worried but also curious._

" _Tore and I broke a island rule and the chief said we weren't vikings because of it...he wanted to kill us-but our mom arranged for us to just be...cast out off the island and give up her own life to save ours," Hagen explained._

" _That's awful! Who would...do such a thing?" Astrid exclaimed in fear. Even Hiccup was shocked to hear the story-it was so cruel to want to kill two young boys, worse to cast them out on their own and kill the mother._

" _Madguts, chief of the Murderus Tribe of the Murderous Mountains Island." Tore sighed heavily, "We were supposed to be put to death for taking care of a wounded dragon-it was just a Terrible Terror who hurt it's wing and couldn't fly away...Madguts did a house check and the dragon had fallen from the place we hid her. He killed the dragon, and sentenced us to death under broken laws that we don't care for dragons, we kill them. My mother pleaded for us to be spared and just sent away, and she would die in our place..."_

 _Astrid was almost in tears hearing the story, Hiccup put his arm around her comfortingly-it upset and enraged him at the same time. How could anyone be so heartless?! This is why no one allied themselves with the Murderus Tribe-because no one approved of how the chief there handled things. "And, what of your father?" Hiccup asked them._

" _Dad was accidentally hurt by a dragon he was helping. Someone startled it and he was killed by the spines of Deadly Nadder, or...that's what Mom told us when we asked about him back when we were five..." Hagen replied now. "We never wanted to hurt dragons, a Gronckle led us home when we got lost once...but Madguts said no one leaves his island unless by death. Our mom died so we could leave alive..." he added sadly._

" _Hiccup...they have no where to go..." Astrid whispered to him._

" _I know, relax...they've been through a lot, babe." Hiccup answered gently as he moved between the two of them calmly. "What if I told you that there is an island full of people who feel the same way you do about dragons? Do you think you two might want to live there?"_

 _The boy's eyes widened in some shock looking at him, "Does...a place like that really exist?" Tore and Hagen said together. Hiccup smiled as he offered a hand to each of them, they grabbed hold and walked with Hiccup outside the hut with Astrid following them. Tore and Hagen could see right away the lit village with dragons all around, and even before them was a Deadly Nadder and Night Fury just sitting calmly._

" _A place like that does exist. It's here on this island-Cloud Rider Isle is where you are right now. I'm the chief, would you two like to stay here with us? A place that doesn't kill dragons but rides them, has peace with them?" Hiccup asked kneeling between the two of them as they just looked around in disbelief but the proof was all right there._

" _You can stay here, with Hiccup and I, the Tribe too. We know we're...not your parents-but we'll take care of you and you'll be safe here among the Skywing Tribe," Astrid offered with a smile now._

" _Ca-Can we...really stay?" Tore asked lightly, in shock still._

" _Will you...adopt us?" Hagen added afterwards and it was clear the nervousness in his voice._

 _Hiccup looked at Astrid as she only smiled to him-the answer was easy to see, "We can if you like. We have a big house just over there, and the dragons live with us," Hiccup smiled at them both. "So, what do you say?"_

" _We want to stay with you and Miss. Astrid," both boys stated and nodded to them._

" _Well, alright then. Let's get you settled in your new home with us," Hiccup replied while Astrid locked up the healer shack and then Hiccup stood up and led the boys and Astrid with the dragons following them to their house and get them set up there-Hiccup would take care of getting them clothes and all they needed to live there with them. Hiccup was really good at making sure everyone had what they needed to live comfortably and happy._

 _ **=End Flashback=**_

That was just a month ago and the boys still resided on Cloud Rider Isle in Hiccup and Astrid's house. As promised-the two nineteen year old teenagers adopted the boys as their own and got them everything they needed. The twins went used Haddock as their last name now, but if there were an unannounced visitors they used the last name of Olovsan to avoid trouble. As an added bonus to welcome them to the family and Tribe, Hiccup found them dragons to learn how to take care of and eventually ride. The dragons were a male Monstrous Nightmare for Hagen-who named Firewing while Tore got a male Deadly Nadder that he gave the name of Sharpclaw too.

Things were great for them-everyone was happy and only one more thing could possibly complete Hiccup-having Astrid as his wife. And that is what he was going to do tonight, as her to marry him and it would be in the village square just before everyone separated to go home and eat dinner, this was a Tribe event. Hiccup had spent all day in the forge with Toothless while Astrid was with the kids-still weird to say that they were adoptive parents now to two nine year old twins but who cared. Astrid was over the moon about it to have them calling her Mom. Hiccup rather enjoyed being called Dad too. In the forge he was putting on the final touches to the engagement gift he had for her. It was another custom he held onto: presenting a gift to the woman he loved while asking for her hand in marriage. For Astrid, he was making a necklace with the Skywing Tribe crest on it, as well the Cloud Rider Isle seal.

This was to represent she was engaged to the chief of the island and tribe and would soon be the chieftess ruling beside him. It would be a momentous night for them, and nobody knew about it. Toothless snorted to get his attention, Hiccup looked to see the sun beginning to set, in and hour it would be nightfall and he had to propose by them. Hiccup finished their initials on the back, and dipped it into the cool water to harden it in place. Hiccup gave it a final polish before tucking it in his armor, then shutting down the forge and closing it down to meet Astrid in the village square with their boys.

"There he is," Astrid smiled as he approached them.

"Hi, Dad!" Tore and Hagen smiled hugging him, then Astrid did the same.

"Hello boys. Greetings, Milady, I trust your day was well?" Hiccup asked her.

"Always, ready for dinner?" she inquired.

"Not quite yet, have a announcement to make first." Hiccup said with a smile, Astrid blinked a bit but nodded to him as the rest of the Tribe arrived.

"Tribe rounded up as asked, chief," Viggo saluted him with a hand over his chest and slight bow.

"Good, good. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I gathered you here at sunset right before dinner. Well, you'll be pleased to know that I won't be taking up much of your time. I just have something I want to share with everyone because without all of you-none of what is on this island would be possible. Astrid and I might have started it but you all made this a Tribe, a village, a family who always has each others backs. So it's only fair that you're all present to find out you'll be having a chieftess very soon," Hiccup informed as Astrid's eyes widened a bit while he smiled at her.

"Hiccup?" she breathed out in surprise.

"Astrid, you and I began this together. We found this place and made it our home, I might be the chief but I do not run it alone and I'm only as strong as the woman who supports and stands beside me is. You are the one who inspired me to show these people, our Tribe the truth so I feel that I should not be the only one leading them. I loved you before, love you now, and will forever. Will you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife, and standing beside this chief as his chieftess for the rest of our lives?" Hiccup asked as he pulled the necklace from under his armor and presented it to her on one knee while holding her hand in his.

"Oh, Hiccup..." she cried some but smiled, "Yes, yes!" she replied happily. Hiccup stood as he placed it over her head and kissed her deeply. The village clapped and cheered, they would soon have a chieftess! Hiccup couldn't have been happier, he knew Astrid would say yes-she'd been hinting about wanted to get married ever since they returned from Bog Isle and now he was making that hint and wish a reality for her and himself. After the kiss, everyone congratulated them and split off to go home. Dinners were made, children bathed, and tucked into bed before adults could clean up a bit and get some sleep themselves. Hiccup and Astrid already set their wedding date, in two months time. Just eight weeks and they would be husband and wife, neither could wait.


	7. Chapter 7

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 7**

~Normal POV~

(Berk)

Almost three years had had passed with no leads, no signs, no anything of Hiccup or Astrid. In truth it had been two years and three months since the two left Berk. Many people began to think the two just didn't survive on their own but Stoick, Asmund, Astilla, Gobber, even elder Gothi all knew the two were alive somewhere in the Archipelago. No one ever saw the two sailing, and there had been no sightings from other islands-they even went as far to check with the Murderus Tribe in the Murderous Mountains, but nothing at all turned up. No one had seen an auburn haired boy with green eyes or a blond haired young woman with blue eyes sailing through. Stoick had a feeling that Hiccup and Astrid-where ever the two were hiding out, we watching closely and knew when to move in order to avoid being found by them. Stoick missed his son, the Hofferson's missed their daughter. Both Hiccup and Astrid had been only children so it was hard for both parents to lose their children.

Snotlout had moved on-accepting that his jealous drove Astrid away, he was now seeing Ruffnut and not rushing marriage-they were taking things really slowly. Fishlegs and Tuffnut didn't have anyone-but didn't mind either. Gobber still manned the forge but greatly missed his helper-things never fell behind with Hiccup in there to help keep things organized and took a lot of the work off because he did the little fixes, sharpening, and polishing. Gothi had confirmed that Hiccup and Astrid were alive-but couldn't say anything more than that because she just didn't know. All Stoick wanted to know was if he'd see his boy again, and more so-he now had to figure out what to do about his not having an Heir situation. His wife was gone, assumed dead because she was never located or a body found, and Hiccup was off Thor only knew where. What did that leave him?

In theory, the next house of power would have been house Hofferson but with Astrid gone too-that would leave Snotlout as a choice to claim Heir. Stoick shuddered at the idea of that boy running the village when he couldn't even manage his own life-his jealousy caused Astrid to leave with Hiccup in order for them to stay together. Stoick refused to name Snotlout his Heir. Fishlegs was smart but very shy when it came to taking charge, and Tuffnut was also out of the question. Stoick couldn't pick any of the houses that were of age to train and take over after two years. However, he had another option: remarry and have another child. Stoick knew he'd have to stay chief another nineteen years until the Heir was ready but in truth-an Heir according to viking law could take over as early as fifteen with the proper training.

It wasn't that Stoick wanted to retire-but losing his son over such small things made him re-evaluate his life. Stoick spent more time chiefing than he did with his child, and also he called his own son the worst viking Berk had ever seen but almost three years ago-that wasn't the case. Stoick saw a side of Hiccup he never had before-the viking son he always hoped Hiccup would be, the strong and brave dragon fighter. But in Hiccup's note, he claimed he wasn't those things and he was sorry if he let his father down. To this day, Stoick still hadn't an inkling of what Hiccup meant by that. Hiccup only said he had to find who he really was, and not to worry about him or Astrid because they were safe. Two years and three months since that day and it still saddened the forty three year old chief.

Stoick and Valka-his first wife-married when they were teenagers themselves and had Hiccup after so many failed pregnancies when they were twenty four years old. Hiccup was born two months early, and no one believed he'd make it but Stoick always said that Hiccup would become the strongest of them all-but then sadly, Valka was carried off by a dragon when Hiccup was about a year old and as Hiccup grew up-Stoick didn't believe in his own words about his son until he saw the strength when Hiccup was seventeen and about to be named dragon training champion and kill his first dragon in the ring before the village. And now, almost three years later-Hiccup was gone from Berk with Astrid and Stoick had no Heir and needed one. On those facts alone, he didn't have a choice. Stoick had to remarry and have another child.

(Two Months Later)

When word got out that Stoick was looking for a new wife, available women flocked to Berk to try his interest. Stoick wasn't being picky-the only woman he'd ever truly love was gone and he made that clear that no one would replace Valka. This marriage was meant to produce an Heir and nothing more-whoever could agree to that would be the ones who stood a chance. It wasn't meant to say that Stoick couldn't come to enjoy the company of a woman again, but his heart did belong to Valka-even beyond the grave. A month in and he found a suitable woman was thirty eight with hazel eyes and black hair. After being checked out by Gothi that she would sustain a pregnancy-the wedding planning took place as soon as Stoick proposed. Now here they were, standing in the Mead Hall about to be married by Spitelout-Stoick's second in command.

Stoick's soon to be wife's name was Inga, and thankfully since Stoick had been married once and gave an Heir-he did not have to make love to her in front of the village. It wasn't that he was ashamed or embarrassed but this marriage was more of convenience rather than love and both sides knew that. They'd gotten through the vows, and ring exchange-Spitelout smiled at both and closed the book.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, chief." Spitelout announced. Stoick brought Inga in close as he placed a kiss on her lips-the two held it a moment before separating and facing the others. "I give you, your chief and chieftess or Berk: Stoick and Inga Haddock!" Spitelout added as the room clapped and cheered. The rest of the night would be a small party and then the two consummating their marriage and hoping for a baby to be conceived by the next month.

(Cloud Rider Isle)

Hiccup couldn't believe the day was finally here, marrying Astrid in a little over fifteen minutes! He never imagined this day would come-but it was here and he couldn't be happier about it. A few things had changed in the tribe-they now had an elder, a full time healer, and another guard. The healer came first-she was from outside the Archipelago and had gotten lost trying to find a kingdom called Dunbroch. The woman's name was Eydis, age thirty two-born in the Archipelago and only lived there until she was fifteen before leaving with her family outside the boundaries. Eydis knew a lot more than Astrid did-which was fine, Astrid was happy to step down and give the job to someone else who could help more. Eydis now resided in the shack-an addition was built on so she'd have a bedroom and wash area.

The second to come was a former dragon trapper named Eret Reidi, age twenty two and his ship crashed on the island, once he saw the dragons being peaceful with humans-he wanted to be a part of it all too. Eret was in charge of keeping an eye on the nine year old twin boys to Hiccup and Astrid. He didn't mind of course-Tore and Hagen loved hanging out with him. The last to stumble on the island by accident was Hella Sandeva, a fifty seven year old woman who did many things-she reminded Hiccup of Gothi in some ways so she was named village elder and would be heading Hiccup and Astrid's wedding today. The Skywing Tribe was thriving with it's twenty eight members, about to be twenty nine when Frida-Albin's wife gave birth in four months.

"Nervous, chief?" Eret asked him with a smile.

"Nah-always knew we'd get married after we decided to run away together two years and five months ago. We couldn't kill dragons and refused to be separated because she was going to be forced into an arranged marriage," Hiccup replied now. He wore black pants, red shirt with some dark brown armor and dark gray boots. On his back was medium gray wolf pelt-he still didn't wear a helmet but strapped to his right his was a two headed handle-he called it Inferno because of what it could do. One side would extend a strong metal outline of a sword and drench it in Monstrous Nightmare gel-with a button, it would light on fire. The other side released Hideous Zippleback gas, then another button could spark that for an explosion.

Inferno was one of his best inventions-although he still kept an ax strapped to his back as well a shield that doubled as many things: in addition to the defense of it deflecting incoming projectile and blows, the shield had some offensive capabilities built into it. A grappling line, where the center hub contained a retractable hook and cable. The catapult was a hidden catapult on the rim. Although an outsider couldn't see it, but it tends to trigger when anyone other than himself picked it up, whacking someone in the face which is a hard hit with the Gronckle Iron which the shield was plated with. This made the shield lighter and stronger than before. It also makes the shield heat-resistant and can deflect flaming arrows, as well as throwing daggers and other projectiles. The shield could also be thrown like a boomerang to disarm an opponent.

The final two modifications Hiccup made to the one shield was crossbow mode, this reinforcement with Gronckle Iron made the shield an extremely sturdy platform to build onto, this allowed him to shoot arrows by hand, and other objects from a bowstring which acts as a high-powered slingshot. The center hub swings away and with the sides splitting apart, it creates tension for the bowstring, readying it for use. Finally, the bola launcher. It was a re-invention of the Mangler, the bola launcher he made on Berk that took down Toothless originally. Hiccup could load one bola into the center hub and launch it at an enemy. Not one he used often-but still useful to have in battle. Inferno and his shield were his best weapons-because it was something no one else had.

"So should we be expecting an Heir to the island after tonight?" Ryker chuckled a bit.

"I told her we'd try-no promises. I'm in no rush-but she'd been asking me to give her baby before we even starting building this place," Hiccup laughed a little recalling the conversation the two of them. Hella approached now with a bow to Hiccup, he gave one from his head in return.

"Your bride is ready, chief. I just received word from Anya, would you like to begin?" Hella questioned softly.

"I'm ready if she is," Hiccup replied, Hella nodded as she had everyone take their seat-it was being held in the event hall. The place Hiccup built with the dragons to hold events like this, big things. Anything else was likely a party in the square, or if a meeting needed to be held-it would be in a smaller area that could hold about thirty people around a big table with chairs. When everyone was seated, Anya-a twenty three year old, former dragon hunter with light brown hair and hazel eyes stepped out. Astrid and her had become good friends so Astrid chose her as maid of honor while Hiccup chose Viggo as his best man.

Anya moved to her spot as the room hushed to silence when Astrid walked out wearing her hair down with two small braids on the either side, her headband still in place-Hiccup got to remove that later after they were married, she also wore thin boots that were tan, and her leggings were light gray beneath a dress of white with tan furs along the bottom, neckline, and sleeves at the bottom where her hands were-those held a small bouquet of yellow, white, and purple flowers in front of her midsection. Astrid gave a smile to Hiccup as she started walking towards him, he held out his hand for her as she stepped up to the small rise off the main level.

"You've always been beautiful to me, Astrid-but tonight, you are a Goddess." Hiccup whispered to her smiling.

"Don't look half bad yourself there, chief Hiccup." Astrid blushed at his compliment. Both looked to Hella with a nod to begin-the ceremony would be short and easy so it was best to get started.

"Skywing Tribe of Cloud Rider Isle-today we gather to join your chief to his beloved-your soon to be chieftess. Their journey began some time ago and through it all, has brought them to this moment as they begin their lives as husband and wife. Any who oppose this union, speak now or forever hold your words in silence?" it was customary to ask but no one would oppose the marriage-they'd been waiting for this since they found out the two weren't married when they met them. Also if anyone did try to stop it, they'd be getting it from Toothless or Stormfly. "Chief Hiccup and Astrid, are you prepared to step into the circle of never ending love and be married?"

"We are," the two replied to her.

"Will you Chief Hiccup Haddock the Third take Astrid Hofferson to be your wedded wife? Do you promise on this day and until death do you part that you will honor, cherish, protect, and love her in sickness and in health, in the good, bad, happy, and sad times? And will you always remain supportive and faithful to her?" Hella asked gently.

"I do and will." Hiccup answered as his eyes never left Astrid's.

"Will you Astrid Hofferson take Chief Hiccup Haddock the Third to be your wedded husband? Do you promise on this day and until death do you part that you will honor, cherish, protect, and love him in sickness and in health, in the good, bad, happy, and sad times? And will you always remain supportive and faithful to him?" Hella inquired while looking to Astrid.

"I do and will," Astrid replied staring into Hiccup's eyes.

"The rings please?" Hella asked as Viggo handed them over to her and stepped back in his space. "You stand in a the circle of representing your love as you spoke your promises of faithfulness to one another during all lives trials and tribulations. Now, you will take these rings and wear them as the symbols of those promises, they are your gifts to one another to always remember the promises and vows you've made today. Chief, repeat after me: with this ring, I marry you and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship, and the promise of all my tomorrows."

Hiccup took the ring that Hella offered to him, then he held Astrid's left hand while staring in her eyes lovingly, "With this ring, I marry you and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship, and the promise of all my tomorrows." he said as he slid it on her finger slowly.

Hella now handed Astrid the ring to place on Hiccup's finger, "Now you, Astrid. Repeat after me: with this ring, I marry you and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship, and the promise of all my tomorrows." Hella said again.

Astrid slid the ring on Hiccup's finger while saying, "With this ring, I marry you and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship, and the promise of all my tomorrows." the two of them locked hands again smiling.

"All assembled have bore witness to the vows said, and exchange of rings. It is my absolute honor as elder to the island and Tribe to pronounced these two as married before you all. Chief, you may kiss your wife!" Hella giggled a bit. Hiccup pulled Astrid in towards him as he leaned close and pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss-Astrid's blush sparked up but she didn't care. Neither of them cared, they were married! When the kiss broke, they faced their Tribe happily. "I give you, Mr. and Mrs. Hiccup and Astrid Haddock! Your chief and chieftess of the Skywing Tribe to Cloud Rider Isle!" Hella announced proudly. The room burst into applause for them-happy they were finally married.

"Can we celebrate now, Mom and Dad?" Tore and Hagen pleaded with wide eyes.

"Yes boys, we certainly can! Party on, Skywingers!" Hiccup called out contently. The party started right away with talking, eating, dancing, and more. It was a night no one would soon forget, not that anyone wanted to either. It must of gone on until 10pm-given it started around 5pm so they could eat dinner normal time and for once as a Tribe. When the children began to get tired-Hiccup decided to call it a night and send everyone home. Guards took up their positions for the night and would switch off as usual, Tore and Hagen were spending the night at Anya's given what Hiccup and Astrid would be doing as soon as they got home.

(Hiccup & Astrid's Home: **Lemon Below!** )

Reaching their front door, Hiccup scooped Astrid up into his arms as she squealed a bit and he carried her inside their home-using his foot to shut the door, then hitting the lever that lowered the board into it's place-Hiccup's ways of locking the door from the inside so they would be disturbed tonight. This was the part of their wedding celebrations that only they got to take part in-originally they were going to stick to tradition of making love in front of the village, but Astrid was very shy and nervous about her body being exposed to the members of the tribe. Also, no one minded that they weren't going to do it publicly. Hiccup and Astrid started this village together, ran away from Berk in order to stay together, they knew there would be no questioning the legitimacy of the Heir they produced.

Hiccup carried Astrid upstairs to their bedroom, he kissed her gently while lying her down on the bed-then breaking the kiss only a moment so he could lay over her before capturing her lips again. "Are you ready?" he inquired to her.

 **[Lemon Start]**

"I am. Take me, Hiccup..." Astrid smiled staring into his eyes. The two stood up now as Hiccup and Astrid began to work on each others clothing-her removing his pelt, armor, and shirt while he removed her dress, boots, and leggings. Hiccup had kicked his boots off already and let Astrid take off his pants. Now they stood in just their under clothing, exposed to one another but neither cared. Hiccup wrapped his arms around her figure and kissed her deeply again while lying her on the bed while he remained over her and between her legs. The kissed only grew more passionate and loving between them, the fire sparking and igniting in their souls and hearts for this moment that they had waited almost three years for.

Hiccup's hands moved down to her breasts and massaged them lightly, earning light gasps of excitement from his wife while he lowered his head to lick and suck on one as his hand remained massaging the other-then five minutes later, he switched to copy his actions on the other breast. Astrid's hands rested on his head, stroking his auburn hair while he did what he was doing. Hiccup's kisses from her breasts only trailed down to her womanhood where he gently ran his hand over it first before kissing it causing Astrid to shudder at the feeling. Locking his arms around her legs, Hiccup began to lick up and down her folds before using his thumbs to separate the moist folds and continue to lick around. Every few or so, he would pay special attention to her pink nub by using just the tip of his tongue with light sucking.

"Gods...Hiccup..." she panted while gripping his hair some. Hiccup smiled as he adjusted himself on his side in order to use a finger at her entrance, he slid it inside and began to finger her-this only drove her mad with pleasure as her hips were arching up and down at the feeling. Hiccup added a second finger after three minutes-then continued to lick and suck at her womanhood while fingering her. Astrid's moans increased in sound, her breathing becoming erratic. The heat of the room began to build as they were starting to sweat but didn't care. "Mm, Hiccup...feels so...good..." she moaned out.

Hiccup continued his actions until he felt her tighten and withdrew his fingers from her hot, wet core. Panting heavily, Astrid watched him move between her legs again-but she had other ideas in mind. Astrid sat up slow and Hiccup sat back on his knees while Astrid lightly took hold of his hardened length in her hand, beginning to stroke up and down. Hiccup groaned some at the feeling-not that it felt bad, just new. "Astrid..." he breathed out, she smiled and had him lie down so she had better access. Hiccup did as she was insisted and let her continue. Astrid stroked him a little more before lowering her head to it length's level and sucking on him. "Gods!" he moaned in surprise at the feeling of her mouth on him. Astrid sucked and stroked him for about seven minutes, "Babe, you gotta stop or I'll finish...before we get to the good part,"

Reluctantly, Astrid pulled off and sat back to give him a moment or two. Hiccup took some deep breaths as he smiled sitting up before carefully pushing her back down and crawling between her legs-his length at her entrance. Astrid gave him a nod to go ahead so he slowly started pushing within her-she cringed a bit, gripping the sheets feeling him enter her virgin core. Hiccup watched her facial reactions so he knew when to keep going or slow down and give her a minute to adjust. Reaching her maiden head, he stopped and looked at her again.

"Go on...I'm okay," Astrid told him, Hiccup leaned forward to kiss her as he brought his hips back and pushed them forward past the barrier. She screamed into his mouth, small tears in the corner of her eyes as Hiccup remained still-kissing her lips and cheeks.

"I'm sorry. The day Hella checked you out, she pulled me aside and said it would hurt no matter how slow I went-the best option was to distract you and push in fast. Hella insisted the pain would fade faster," Hiccup explained.

"It's...al-alright, Hiccup...just...give me a few minutes," Astrid asked him, Hiccup nodded as he kissed her again. After two minutes, she took a breath, "You can move now," she told him. Hiccup kissed her again as he used his arms to hold himself up-her hands rested on his arms while they stared at one another and he began moving his hips back and forth, in and out of her. Astrid only cringed once or twice before it seemed to turn to pleasure for her because she began moaning loudly-asking for more. "Ah, Hiccup...faster, please?" Hiccup was happy to oblige her, he adjusted himself to sit back on his knees and spread her legs some while starting to move faster in his thrusts.

"Astrid, Gods..." Hiccup moaned-they kept this up for ten minutes before Astrid began to ask him to thrust harder into her so he did and she loved it, both of them did. Another fifteen minutes passed before Hiccup pulled out and had her get on her hands and knees, he pushed in again once behind her and the moaning increased again-clearly Astrid loved it this way because Hiccup was deeper and moving at the speed and force she seemed to enjoy and continue to ask for. After almost two hours of position switching, they had reached their climaxes. "Astrid...I can't...anymore," he panted.

"Me...eit-either," Astrid replied through her heavy pants. Sweat drenched their bodies, their hair was matted to their foreheads as Hiccup picked up speed and force again to get them to their end together. "Hiccup, Gods...I'm cumming!" she yelled out-louder than she meant too.

"I am too!" Hiccup grunted as he thrust hard within her and released his seed inside her. Astrid arched when the pleasure washed over her all at once-she squirted a bit and nearly pushed Hiccup out. Hiccup smiled as he kissed her deeply and two laid there-still connected at their lower halves until Hiccup went soft and he withdrew from her still pulsing core. Ten minutes passed before either of them really moved-after that Hiccup and Astrid cleaned off with a towel before he laid down, she laid on his arm-curled up on his chest. Hiccup pulled the blanket over them-they sighed out contently.

 **[Lemon End]**

"That was...amazing," Astrid breathed gently.

"I know...and still one thing left to do," Hiccup reminded, she arched a brow at him as he smiled and removed her headband. It was referred to as a Kransen-something a daughter received from her mother on her first birthday, and it was worn until that woman married and consummated that marriage. The husband would remove the Kransen after making love-then it would be put away until their first daughter was born. Hiccup placed it on the nightstand as they shared another kiss before snuggling up and relaxing.

"I love you, Hiccup." Astrid said before yawning, closing her eyes and began drifting to sleep.

"I love you too, Astrid." Hiccup whispered as he kissed her forehead-she smiled as sleep took her. Hiccup wasn't far behind, his final thought of the night was: _'My life is absolutely perfect,'_.


	8. Chapter 8

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 8**

~Normal POV~

Life had never been better since they tied the knot and got married. It had been a month and two weeks since the wedding-the Tribe was thrilled to have to have a chieftess, things ran smoothly as they always did. Food stocks were high, plenty of animals to provide milk, and eggs, others to eat-but only after new ones had been found or bred. Hiccup and Astrid had their own jobs on the island being the rulers: Astrid took on teaching the children things they'd need to know such as runes, dragon facts and care, how to sew, and cook. Hiccup was the dragon trainer-but only if the members wanted to learn how to ride them. Of course, Hiccup being chief did his other duties as well but it wasn't hard since their tribe wasn't large-only twenty eight members currently and in it would be twenty nine in two months when Frida-Albin's wife gave birth to their second child.

For guards: Viggo, Ryker, Eret, and Soren were Hiccup's lead guards and they had their own switch off schedule. Hiccup knew it but wasn't concerned because he knew they knew what they were doing worked-also the Terrible Terror's still kept on their perches through the night. Astrid had put her Kransen away in a box that Hiccup crafted for her, she intended to follow tradition and give it to the first daughter Hiccup and her had. Hiccup made Tore and Hagen something too-he forged them their own swords, something for them to feel like they were helping protect the island and perfect for them to wield because they were made from Gronckle Iron. He was also training to ride their dragons-not above a certain limit and never without himself or Astrid.

Today, Hiccup was teaching them how to do a barrel roll and fire a single blast at a target. They were on the beach with a standstill target against the rocks-they'd work on moving targets later on if Tore and Hagen did well. Astrid was home resting because she tripped and hurt her ankle a few day before so Hiccup had her on bed rest, she didn't seem to mind though because she spent most of it sleeping or reading books she got from trader Johann. Yes, he did come through but knew Hiccup and Astrid as Hedvig and Alva Olovsan. Johann couldn't know who they really were, he made frequent trips to Berk and would undoubtedly say something to Stoick. That was all they needed after two years and six months of being gone-him showing up and finding out they were married, rode dragons, and started a tribe all their own.

There were times that Astrid missed her parents but remembered how much happier she was with how things were now than how they would have been on Berk-Astrid loved Hiccup and always would, she loved their adopted sons: Tore and Hagen, she loved their tribe, their friends they'd made. Astrid never wanted to go back and neither did Hiccup, they were both happier with how their lived had turned out since choosing to run off and leave their pasts behind them.

"It's one spin and as soon as you're up again, fire." Hiccup instructed for the third time. The boys were still young so it was harder for them to ride the larger dragons who were late teens at best.

"Trying, Dad!" Tore called back to him as he took a breath and patted Sharpclaw's neck once. "Come on, Sharpclaw! We can do this," he urged his Nadder who squawked and looked forward. The Nadder sped forward, "Single twirl!" Tore commanded, the Nadder span once and then, "Fire!" he added, the Nadder returned straight and shot a blast of fire at the target against the rocks before looping around and landing again.

"Much better, Tore! Wanna work on not being so close to target when you fire though, get too close and enemies could launch arrows and bolas at you." Hiccup told him as he nodded to his father, then Hiccup looked at Hagen. "Your turn," Hagen gave a nod as he got in the air with Firewing then to his position. Firewing shot towards, Hagen gave the horns a tilt as the dragon twirled once and upon being upright once again-Hagen gave a light kick to his neck and Firewing blasted the target-then he whipped around and landed beside his brother and Sharpclaw.

"Well done the both of you! Very impressed and you've come a long way since we started three days ago," Hiccup smiled.

"Thanks, Dad." they said giving each other a high five.

"How about we take a break and go check on your mother? Sure she's getting pretty lonely in the house by herself," Hiccup offered, the boys nodded as they all mounted up and headed for their house-which had been renovated again to accommodate Sharpclaw and Firewing, two more stables off the back of the house for them since the inside was already set the way it was. It worked that the two dragons were basically inside as well-they liked having the whole family, dragons included, together in one place. Reaching the house, they sent their dragons to get something to eat around back while they walked inside and didn't see Astrid on the couch where they'd left her a few hours ago.

"Mom?" Hagen called.

"Maybe she's sleeping?" Tore suggested gently, Hiccup checked the two guest rooms downstairs since he'd said Astrid couldn't take on the stairs without him until Eydis cleared her to walk on the ankle again.

"She's not in them. Babe!" Hiccup yelled out-only loud enough to ring through out the house. No answer, Hiccup stepped outside now and saw Ryker flying over on his male Nightmare, Blastburn, "Hey, Ry!" he called up, Ryker stopped and landed before him.

"Yes, chief?" Ryker asked.

"Did my wife leave the house at all since I went to the beach with the boys?" Hiccup asked him curiously.

"I didn't see her leave-but Viggo was around here earlier, I can ask him." Ryker offered.

"Please do. Astrid isn't in the house," Hiccup sighed some, Ryker nodded and then he took off to find his brother. Ten minutes later, Viggo landed before him on his female Nadder, Sunflame.

"I saw chieftess Astrid take Stormfly to Eydis's, sir." Viggo informed, Hiccup blinked. Why would Astrid go to Eydis by herself? Had she hurt her ankle worse than the first diagnosis?

"Thanks, Viggo. Resume post, come on boys." Hiccup instructed his sons as they walked to Eydis's healer shack and he knocked on the door. A minute passed before Eydis opened the door and smiled brightly at them.

"Greetings, chief. Looking for your wife?" Eydis inquired. Hiccup nodded to her, Eydis opened the door to show Astrid sitting on one of the beds with a bucket in her lap and heaving a bit. "She wasn't feeling well about an hour ago-so she came on Stormfly to see me. I just finished checking over her when the throwing up started again," Hiccup frowned a bit-Astrid was sick then. He moved beside her and sat down to rub her back some, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Mama?" Hagen asked.

"I will be sweetie, don't worry..." Astrid replied tiredly. "So what's wrong with me, Eydis?"

"Nothing uncommon I assure you. I'm stuck between stomach ailment or possibly pregnancy. So could you confirm for me how many weeks it's been since the wedding?" Eydis glanced at them.

"That was...six weeks ago," Hiccup responded now.

"Have you gotten your time of month yet, chieftess?" Eydis asked. Astrid thought about it now before shaking her head.

"And you have no fever, those are likely associated with stomach ailments. You mentioned having sore breasts, light cramping, nausea, and headaches. That with no time of month-I'm going to safely and with 95% accuracy, say that you are with child, Astrid." Eydis smiling brightly to Hiccup and Astrid whose eyes widened at the news. Astrid was...pregnant?! The two looked at one another before smiling wide and hugging. "Congratulations," Eydis added.

"I'm pregnant, Hiccup! We're going to have a baby! Can you believe it?!" Astrid exclaimed happily-all nausea seeming to have passed.

"I can. I'm beyond thrilled, babe. Did you hear boys? You're going to be big brothers in eight and a half months!" Hiccup smiled inviting them over to join the hug.

"Yay! Mommy is having a baby," Tore and Hagen cheered while hugging them.

"And stay off that ankle another week, chieftess." Eydis smiled.

"I will, Eydis. Thank you." Astrid nodded gently as Hiccup carefully lifted her into his arms and carried her out, the boys following them while being over the moon about the news. Hiccup took her back home and set her down on the couch-he lightly touched her belly and kissed it. "I'm so happy,"

"Me too, Astrid. See, told you it'd all work out with time." Hiccup chuckled a bit as she nodded and they shared a kiss.

"You should go tell everyone, Dad!" Tore suggested.

"I'll go do that now, stay here with your mother." Hiccup smiled as he got up and headed outside-then gave a whistle for Toothless to come over, Hiccup got on his back and they took to the sky over the village. "Get their attention bud," Toothless almost grinned as he gave a roar, the general signal to the Tribe members that the chief had an announcement to make so they'd all gather in the square to listen. "I need everyone to listen up because I got big news regarding the Tribe," he began smiling, "Astrid is with child!"

The Tribe burst into cheering and applause at the news-how could it not be exciting? They'd have an Heir soon-this wasn't to say that Tore and Hagen weren't Heir's themselves but in legality matters, the Heir was the one born from the chief and chieftess of the island. The child Astrid carried was the Heir of Cloud Rider Isle, there was sure to be celebrating when Astrid's ankle felt better. Hiccup just smiled looking down at them all, he loved everything that leaving Berk had given him and as long as he could avoid it-he would never go back.

(Berk)

Stoick and his new wife, Inga awaited to see Gothi to see if they'd conceived a child, it had been six weeks since the wedding but the woman showed no signs of being pregnant and she did have two children before now-however, the daughter didn't survive the first year of her birth due to illness. The son; Casper-who was thirteen elected to stay behind with his father old island of Hysteria. Apparently what led to the divorce was the former husband cheating with another woman and getting her pregnant, the son chose to stay with him because he didn't want to move to a new island away from his friends. Inga didn't mind as long he promised to stay in contact through letters. Now in Gothi's hut with Gobber, Gothi was over-looking Inga for pregnancy.

After fifteen minutes, Gothi began to write in the sand on the floor as Gobber glanced over. "She says: _her deepest apologies chief and chieftess, but Inga has not conceived this cycle._ Looks like you'll have to try again there, Stoick," Gobber informed.

"I'm sorry, Stoick-perhaps I'm just too old to have another baby," Inga sighed.

"Nonesense. Gothi confirmed you were as fit as a fiddle for another child. If anyone is too old it's myself being forty three years old..." Stoick told her gently, though this woman was not Valka-she was still kind and caring so Stoick would not hate or treat her differently.

"Gothi checked you out too, chief, says your both fine to have another child. It might just take a few tries to get the timing right," Gobber enlightened them. Stoick and Inga nodded as they left Gothi's hut, hoping to try again next month for another baby.

(Three Months Later)

The last two tries had failed, this was their fourth and once again-back in Gothi's hut to be checked over for pregnancy. Just like the three times in there, the elder was silent in her work while Stoick and Inga sat nervous to be told it hadn't happened again. All this reminded Stoick of when he and Valka were trying for a baby, there were a lot of fails in conceiving and if she did fall pregnant-she'd lose the baby before term. Gothi's final check was always feeling the belly, she moved close and placed her hands over it-feeling around and then placed an ear to her stomach to be closer before stepping back and getting her staff. Gobber watched as she wrote in the sand, he smiled.

"Congrats you two," he began as Stoick and Inga's eyes widened. "Chieftess you are carrying with next Heir of Berk!" Gobber announced proudly. Both over the moon about the news that after three failed attempts, Inga had finally conceived and was one month along carrying Stoick's next Heir to the Island of Berk. Inga and Stoick shared a light kiss as Gothi offered a bow to them. Now it would be a matter of sustaining the pregnancy to term, but overall-the two were happy to be expecting a baby in seven months.

(Cloud Rider Isle)

Astrid was now five months pregnant, and definitely showing now. Stilsta Horn and Sylvia Jansen had made her some new clothes to fit her figure now, and Astrid no longer wore the spiked piece over her skirt. Now it was just the blue or gray leggings with a blue, black, or red shirt and of course her usual tan boots for her feet. Hiccup and the boys had been hard at work preparing things for the baby such as the cradle, blankets, clothes, diapers, something for Astrid to carry the baby around when walking in the village or possibly flying on Stormfly. In other things that were celebrated besides aside from Astrid carrying the Cloud Rider Isle Heir, Frida's child had been born three months ago-a little girl that was named, Cecile Haugen. Also, the twins had turned ten years old!

Yes, Tore and Hagen were now ten-because their birthday was a month ago. It had been a fun celebration too, Hiccup put together a surprise party for them and gave everyone the day off work to enjoy the festivities. There were games, a small dragon race, food, drinks, presents. The boys had actually fallen asleep by 6pm that night from everything given the party started at noon when it was lunch time. The best gift they said could of ever received was having parents again, that Hiccup and Astrid adopted them as their children regardless of background. Astrid actually cried a bit when they had said that, the four of them shared a family hug and the village swooned over it.

Hiccup and Astrid were just a month away from turning twenty years old themselves as they were still trying to process they'd been out on their own for almost three years, it was incredible. They ran away, built Cloud Rider Isle together, had a tribe, adopted twin boys who lost their family, now Hiccup and Astrid had been married for six and a half months-expecting their first blood child in four months. They couldn't wait, nothing made this better because they had everything they could ever want in life.

(One Month Later)

Tore and Hagen chuckled mischievously as they'd opened the door to their parents room to see them still asleep, the two snuck back downstairs and into the kitchen pulling out some pans, utensils, eggs, oranges, bread, and fish. Today it was Hiccup and Astrid's birthday so they wanted to do something for them and what was better than making breakfast for them.

"You make the eggs and fish, I'll squeeze the oranges and make the toast..." Hagen smiled, Tore nodded as they got to work and going as quietly as they could. They knew their father was especially tired because he got in late after a few of the animals escaped during the thunderstorm. Hiccup didn't get back until a little after 1am, and their mother had been sick with a slight cold the last few days-still taking care of them though-but she was finally feeling better so Tore and Hagen wanted to do something to show how much the appreciated their parents doing everything they did to keep the island safe and them taken care of.

Hagen had Toothless light the fire pit in the living room after he got the wood for it, then they put the rack on carefully-it was metal, made from Gronckle Iron with thin poles running horizontal and vertical to make it so things couldn't fall through easily. The smoke went up through a metal pipe that went to next level and continued on through the roof. Hagen mixed the eggs together in a bowl then poured them in the pain to cook. Tore worked on squeezing oranges for juice, and toasting the bread on the metal grate but turning it every few minutes until it was cooked. When the eggs were done, Hagen worked on cooking the fish. There was enough for five of them-since they knew Astrid ate for two, when it was all set up they set it on trays that carried two plates per while making their way upstairs to their parents room.

Sneaking in was hard with their hands full but they managed to get inside to see their father on his back-a hand over his midsection while their mother laid on his other arm and curled up beside him with a hand on her six month pregnant belly. "Happy Birthday Mommy & Daddy!" Hagen and Tore announced which startled their parents awake. In truth, Astrid's birthday was actually a few days away still but Hiccup and her celebrated them together.

"What?" Hiccup said quickly sitting up with a hand to his head. Now he saw the boys there holding the trays with two plates each on them and saw their wide smiles.

"What's all this?" Astrid asked softly now as Tore brought one of the trays to her and set it on her lap once she had sat up in the bed, Hagen brought the other over to Hiccup.

"We made you a surprise birthday breakfast!" Tore smiled.

"Oh, kids...thank you. That's so sweet," Astrid held her arms out to hug Tore, then Hagen went over to get hugged too.

"Yes, and it looks delicious. I know I'm hungry, come sit on the bed and join us boys." Hiccup invited after ruffling their hair before hugging them as well. Tore and Hagen sat down on the bed as they all got a plate and began to eat together. Hiccup and Astrid were blessed to have them in their lives-such good boys they were. It was like they were all made to mold together into such a perfect family. Thus far, Hiccup and Astrid were having a great start to their twentieth birthday and it was only sure to get better as the day continued.


	9. Chapter 9

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 9**

~Normal POV~

The excitement never stopped and the anticipation continued to grow as Astrid was now in her seventh month of pregnancy and still doing perfectly fine-it was worry some for Hiccup because he himself was born two months early and barely survive his birth and the whole first year according to Gobber-who had told him stories about his mother who was dead having been carried off by a dragon. Eydis assured Hiccup that as long as Astrid took it easy then she would make it to term no problems at all. Hiccup and Astrid both couldn't believe that two months had passed since their birthday, it was like time was just passing them by but they didn't mind at all. It was amazing too that they had been married eight and a half months already. Four more and it would be a full year, not to mention also they'd been together as a couple for three years given they hooked up two months after Astrid's seventeenth birthday-Hiccup's was about three days before hers and had he been born on time instead of two months early, Astrid would actually be older than him.

It was fun to think about, to this day Astrid tells Hiccup that the only reason he came early was because he was too stubborn to be second oldest of all the kids born that year and as such-he came early and is the oldest between Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut. The next set of kids after them was almost three years later, but it didn't matter. The Tribe was doing well, same as always with no problems or visitors except Johann every few weeks sometimes months-it depended on where he traveled to. Johann was known for never going near the Murderous Mountains, another trader was brave enough for that excursion. Johann went from Berk and below it to the South, Southeast, and Southwest. Hitting all the islands in that area: Berk, Peaceable County, Hysteria, Bog, Meathead, Outcast, Berserk, Waterlands, and of course, Hiccup's island being Cloud Rider Isle.

Johann knew of the island but didn't know Hiccup and Astrid lived there-he only knew them as Hedvig and Alva who had two adopted boys and a child on the way, Johann also didn't know about the dragons for obvious reasons. Hiccup had requested that Johann never mention their island to others so it wouldn't peak curiosity about when it became an inhabited island and try to visit or introduce themselves. The Skywing Tribe was a very quiet and keep to themselves type of village-they didn't want everyone poking around of when they got there, would they sign alliances with other tribes, it was just not something Hiccup wanted to deal with-it would involve the risk of revealing their peace pact with the dragons, that itself could start wars he wanted nothing to do with so for the safety of both species, the would keep to their own.

"Chief, Trader Johann's ship was just spotted should be arriving in about an hour and a half. Orders?" Viggo asked quickly while approaching on foot besides Hiccup.

"Johann was just here two weeks ago, why would he be back so soon I wonder..." Hiccup pondered a moment with a hand to his chin-then he looked to Viggo. "No matter. Outsider incoming plan Alpha," he commanded.

"Yes sir, right away." Viggo saluted and rushed off. Plan Alpha was to hide the dragons and assume normal Tribe behavior. It also meant that Hiccup and Astrid had to put the temporary dye in their hair so they didn't give away their appearance to Johann who knew Hiccup and Astrid very well from their days on Berk. Hiccup turned heel with Toothless and returned to the Haddock household to find his wife relaxing and working on lunch.

"Weren't you going to check the store house?" Astrid inquired with a smile.

"I was until Viggo informed me that Johann is an hour and a half out from docking here. Outsider plan Alpha is being commenced," Hiccup told her as he kissed her cheek.

"I'll get the hair dye," she giggled heading for the downstairs washroom and two bottles: one labeled Hedvig, the other Alva. The twins didn't need to change their hair color because with Hiccup and Astrid's dye job-the twins looked just like they were meant to be their kids. Astrid slipped on the thin gloves as Hiccup sat in the chair while she applies it and let it sit twenty minutes while she did her own and let it sit the same amount of time. After that the dye dried and with a little adjusting-the hair color was changed. Hiccup to black and Astrid to caramel brown color. Astrid had one other thing for Hiccup though, a powder that matched his skin tone-something to hide the scar on the right side of his chin. With it covered Hiccup didn't look like, well, Hiccup anymore.

Astrid put everything away as they and the boys ate lunch together-cleaned up, then went outside together as Viggo approached again. "Plan Alpha in effect. Johann is twenty minutes out," he said.

"Very good, Viggo. Grab your brother and follow us to the docks, we'll greet him." Hiccup smiled, Viggo nodded as he hurried off to find Ryker. Fifteen minutes passed as the Haddock family was standing on the docks with Viggo and Ryker on either side of them, the twins in front of Hiccup and Astrid as Johann's boat moved slow into the dock area. Hiccup and Ryker grabbed Johann's two lines and helped pull him in and flat to the side of the dock-then tying it in place. Ryker helped Johann with the board as the always happy trader stepped off and shook hands with Hiccup.

"Ah, master Hedvig. Always good to see you," Johann greeted brightly.

"You as well, my traveler friend. What brings you back-was sure we wouldn't see you for another few weeks or months?" Hiccup inquired softly.

"My apologies for the sudden return. I'm afraid I may have let slip your island is one of my stops in the Archipelago..." Johann admitted nervously. Hiccup's eyes widened a bit but remained calm.

"Perhaps we should move this inside. Children, will you take your mother home to rest-I believe she's looking a bit tired." Hiccup said looking to Tore and Hagen.

"Yes, father." the two replied leading Astrid back towards the house after she received a look from Hiccup that clearly said he would tell her what was going on afterwards.

"Come, Johann." Hiccup said calmly to him, Johann nodded and followed Hiccup to the building where he held meetings, Viggo and Ryker following silently. Reaching the spot, Hiccup led Johann inside and had his guards stay outside so they wouldn't be interrupted.

"It was an accident, Chief Hedvig. I was on Bog Isle a week ago and the young Heir stumbled upon one of your inventions below deck-it was the...um, thing you gave me to help pull up my gang plank. You've given me a few, and she asked if she could trade for one and then questioned where I found such a useful too. You know me and my stories-I informed the young Heiress to Bog Isle that I got it from the chief of a new island. Now, I did not say where it was located-just that it housed a small tribe." Johann explained quickly.

"Did you mention my name?" Hiccup asked, Johann nodded to him. This was a problem-Bertha and Camicazi knew about him as Hedvig, and Astrid as Alva. They had stayed there for a month-all of Bog Isle knew about them under their secret names and now they were aware that he was chief of his own island. The story Bertha and Camicazi knew was that Hedvig and Alva were abandoned at the age of eleven.

"I'm so sorry, Chief Hedvig," Johanna said full of regret.

"It's fine, Johann. But I assume you did not return here to inform me about letting it slip. Did the chieftess of Bog Isle send you?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, with this letter regarding an upcoming meeting for all island rulers to attend. She said given you have a tribe now, and you are chief-it's rather required to attend." Johann enlightened as he pulled the letter from his clothing and handing it to Hiccup to read over.

 _ **Hedvig, or I should say Chief Hedvig now-I'm pleased to find out you are alright, it's been some time since we last met. As chief of your own tribe in the Archipelago, you are required to attend the meeting in a month being hosted on Meathead Isle by Chief of the Meathead Tribe, Mogadon. It's to discuss the dragon scourge we all face in two months. Oh and if you have an Heir, or Alva would like to come along-they are welcome to. Hope to catch up with you then. Signed, Bertha Boggs-Chieftess of Bog Isle, home to the Bog Burglar Tribe.**_

Hiccup sighed heavily, he knew of this meeting. It was something he attended with his father when it was hosted on Berk when he was about thirteen years old, now that he was a chief himself which Johann carelessly let slip in one of his stories-Hiccup was required to attend it as a chief. Great. "You received this last week?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, Master Hedvig." Johann replied.

"So the meeting is in three weeks and it takes almost two in order to sail to Meathead. I'd have to leave next week to make it on time...I suppose if I must then I must. Thank you, Johann." Hiccup stated with a soft smile. Johann nodded as the two stood and shook hands.

"I must be leaving now, my friend. I'm behind on my usual schedule, " Johann said.

"Of course, I understand. Safe sailing, Johann." Hiccup replied, Johann and him exited the building. Johann moved on to his ship and prepared to leave the island. Hiccup sighed heavily as he moved towards his house, he had to talk to Astrid about this-Hiccup knew she couldn't travel, it wasn't safe with her being seven months pregnant and by the time they got there, Astrid would likely be almost eight months along. Reaching the house, he sent the kids to play with Eret as he discussed with Astrid about why Johann was there and the meeting Hiccup had to attend.

"And let me guess, you want me to stay here?" Astrid asked gently.

"It's not safe for you to travel, babe. You'll be eight months by the time we get there and Thor forbid you went into early labor, I want you here: safe at home. I'll take Eret and Ryker with me, the boys can stay here with you. I should be back before you give birth," Hiccup told her.

"I understand, Hiccup. When do you leave?" Astrid looked at him.

"I plan to leave in a week, travel the time it takes to get there-then leave as soon as it's over. These meetings are literally just a gathering of chieftains to discuss dragon raid solutions, who did nest searches, if anyone has ideas that help keep them away. Then everyone just enjoys a celebration of being around one another-mead and food for the night and most people leave after a few days," Hiccup smiled some.

"Alright. You be safe, I'll make you some extra dye and powder to take." Astrid said gently as she kissed him, he returned it and they relaxed on the couch in the main area near the fire. Hiccup was going to hate this trip-he and Astrid hadn't been apart in years, but if he didn't go then Bertha was likely going to talk about her run in with him and Astrid or Alva and then it would spark the other Tribes making a go to look for Johann and get him to spill where the island was. Hiccup closed his eyes sighing, just a month-maybe less if the winds and weather were on their side. He wanted to go and get it over with-this was a once a year thing too so he'd have to do it every year which only irritated him more. Such was the life of a chief-doing things you didn't always want to do.

(Two & A Half Weeks Later)

The Gods were on his side! Hiccup left Cloud Rider Isle about seventeen days ago and they were about half an hour out from arriving at Meathead Isle. Hiccup already did his hair and covered his scar, he was wearing black pants, green tunic, his armor **(A/N: Think his HTTYD 2 armor)** with some additions like the metal shoulder pieces on his shoulders to hold his light gray wolf pelt cloak that hung down his back and of course his boots. The people who came with him were Ryker, Eret, Folke, Goran, and Ivar. Those last three were parts of Viggo and Ryker's crew on their ship before Hiccup converted them from dragon hunters to dragon lovers.

"Alright, listen up Skywingers. I've been to this before as a kid. It's long, boring, and irritating. Folke, Goran, Ivar-I want you to stay on the ship and make sure no one comes aboard looking for clues about the island or Tribe. Eret, Ryker-you will be with me during the meeting. If anyone asks, Ryker, you are my second in command and Eret, you are my guard. That is what most of other chief's or chieftess's have with them. Some also have their Heir's, wives, and/or husbands. It's hard to tell but basically this is just a meeting for them to discuss how to handle their raids because for most of the islands-the next four months will be heavy raid months. They all just talk to figure out if anyone has had success in deterring, defeating, lessening-you get the idea." Hiccup announced.

"Understood, chief." they replied as the island was coming into sight now-this was going to suck.

(Meathead Isle-Great Hall)

The others had arrived already-they liked to come early to catch up and recover from the sailing. Rulers from Berserk, Outcast, Berk, Murderus, Hysteria, Waterlands, Peaceable, and Bog. Most of them were just sitting around with a mug of mead or water waiting for this new chief to arrive. Bertha had told them about it when she arrived that there would be a new chief among them for the meeting.

"Bertha, I don't understand. Who is this chief and why have the rest of us never heard of him?" came the chief of Hysterics Tribe; Asgeir.

"You will meet him when he gets here, patience, Asgeir." Bertha chuckled some.

"If he ever gets here," said the chief of the Berserkers; Dagur.

"Brother, come now. He is a new chief-perhaps he was unaware that most of us arrive early," said a sweet voice beside Dagur-his little sister, Heather. Dagur groaned some while playing with his dagger.

"Precisely. Camicazi and I met him three years ago-he and his lover washed up on our beach after a dragon destroyed their ship. They were looking for supplies to rebuild their home on the island they'd been abandoned on by their tribe for being runts to their families when they were eleven. The two were placed on a ship with clothes and some food and sent off on their own-the elder suggested removing them in hopes of pleasing the Gods to stop their raids." Bertha explained.

"Which Tribe would do that? None of ours..." Gunvor, chief of the Peacekeepers Tribe spoke now.

"I think they were from outside the Archipelago, there is another world out there." Camicazi mentioned now.

"Yes, she's right." Thuggary-Mogadon's son, agreed with her.

"Chief Mogadon! There's a ship pulling up towards the docks," came the voice of a guard who rushed in to alert his chief. Mogadon stood up now as Thuggary followed him. Curiously, the others leaders did the same-all curious of this new chief.

(Outside-The Docks)

Hiccup sighed, so they'd arrived finally. Might as well get this over with, he moved towards the side of the ship as two dock helpers from the Meathead Tribe grabbed the lines and pulled their ship up to port. Folke and Goran lowered the board and Hiccup had his arms crossed over his chest, putting on his bored but serious expression.

"Welcome to Meathead, stranger. Are you the one Bertha spoke of, the new chief to an Archipelago island?" asked Mogadon. Hiccup gave a nod as he walked down towards him, Eret and Ryker beside him.

"Got a name, lad?" Hiccup recognized that voice-it was Gobber's. Such fond memories indeed.

"May I present, Chief Hedvig Olovsan. Chief of the Skywing Tribe on Cloud Rider Isle." Ryker announced, it was the job Hiccup gave him.

"Hedvig!" Camicazi smiled rushing up now, "Wow, you got taller since we last saw you. How's Alva? Did she come too?"

"I'm afraid not, Heiress Camicazi. Chief Mogadon, a storm is headed this way. We've stayed a few miles ahead of it, it would be wise to return inside," Hiccup informed.

"Oh, yes. Of course, right this way." Mogadon motioned towards the hall. A ten minute walk later and everyone had filed inside of it with the doors shut. "So, I believe since you're new-we should get to know you better." the man offered.

"I suppose that would be acceptable to agree to. Very well, what would you like to know?" Hiccup asked calmly.

"We could start with when you came to the Archipelago, when you formed a Tribe, how old you are...something along those lines?" Dagur remarked.

"Twenty years old and three years ago," Hiccup replied plainly.

"Pretty young to be chief," came Stoick's voice, Hiccup fought glaring at him.

"Young-but smart, wise, strong, brave, and talented." Eret responded to the Berk chief.

"So where is, Alva?" Camicazi asked with a wide smile now.

"Home resting, she wasn't up to traveling so I elected to come with my guard and second in command." Hiccup answered.

"Poor dear is sick?" Bertha frowned.

"Nothing she won't recover from in about a month," Hiccup smiled some as Camicazi and Bertha blinked a bit, "She's eight months pregnant,"

"Oh my Gods! She is? Wonderful! You must bring yourselves by Bog Isle so we can meet the little one!" Camicazi squealed happily.

"I'll speak to the wife about it when I get back," Hiccup chuckled.

"And you two are married now!?" Bertha exclaimed.

"About nine months ago now. Got married and she conceived on our wedding night," Hiccup replied.

"In good Viking tradition, we'll send gifts for the new child." Oyvind, chief of Waterlands.

"That won't be necessary. Our Tribe keeps to our own, we only came because it was required to." Hiccup informed blandly.

"Hah, that's how I feel about it." Madguts of Murderus scoffed.

"Nobody asked you, Madguts." Stoick rolled his eyes. "So, Hedvig. I know I'm curious-where is your island?"

"None of your business. I believe we are here to discuss something regarding dragons, that is what I was told. I have other places to be and a million better things to do with my time then sit here and be questioned. My wife is three to four weeks from giving birth and I will not be missing such an event over a meaningless matter," Hiccup retorted coldly-effectively silencing the room. "So I suggest we get started with whatever this is, I'd like to go home." he added while leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest.

Gods he just wanted to go home and be with his boys and wife. He was better off not coming at all, this was pointless for him because he didn't suffer raids. Now these people would be all over him wanting to know more because he was-for lack of a better word, secretive. Hiccup listened as the room began to talk about things slowly-occasionally going silent to see if he was still listening. This didn't matter to him, and he wanted it to be over so he could leave and not have to worry about it for another year.


	10. Chapter 10

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 10**

~Normal POV~

The _conversation_ had been going on for hours, each chief getting a chance to talk about how things had been on their island with raids since the last meeting held the year before this one. It was ridiculous to listen to, Hiccup hated hearing about the dragons being captured or killed by these people. It made him sick to his stomach-he actually fought throwing up a few times due to it. The others asked if he was alright but he just waved it off and motioned for them to keep talking-but he was seriously reaching his limit with hearing them talk about everything. He had half a mind to tell them that the only thing they needed to do in order to contain their raids was show the dragons a little understanding and trust, that was it. However, if he revealed such a thing-he'd never be left alone regarding how he knew information like that so he elected to keep his mouth shut and tolerate the stories of dragon killing.

Hiccup and the others he'd brought from Cloud Rider Isle had gotten there around noontime and now it was close to 6:30pm-six and a half hours of this shit and he was forming a massive migraine from it all, they'd be eating dinner soon but Hiccup had intentions to eat on his ship with his Tribe members. He was brought from his thoughts by Heather-little sister to Dagur the Deranged, chief of the Berserker Tribe.

"Hm?" Hiccup asked having not heard her the first time.

"I asked: we've been talking about dragon raids on our islands for hours-but you...haven't said a word regarding yours. I suppose I'm wondering why?" Heather asked again.

He had a choice to make here: tell them his island didn't get raids or lie and make something up. Why lie? His original mission was to show people the truth-perhaps this could be a good start. He did convert former dragon trapper Eret and dragon hunters Viggo and Ryker to dragon lovers-why couldn't he try here. Baby steps of course. "I find myself to be an observer more than a talker. I prefer to listen, gather facts, and information before making statements. After all, I'm new to all this so I just assumed to listen to how things go at these yearly meetings,"

"Well, we've all finished our reports. We've all spoken about our raids, what of yours?" Asgeir asked curiously.

"My raids?" Hiccup inquired, the group of them nodded, "I don't get any."

"That's impossible. Every island in the Archipelago gets raids, well, the viking inhabited ones do." Alvin remarked.

"As I said. I'm an observer, I watch rather than take action as you all do. I see no reason to fight, so I don't and they seem to leave my island alone." Hiccup informed firmly. All eyes on him now, confused beyond belief. "It's really not that hard of a concept to grasp. Let me ask you this: why do you fight them?"

"They raid us. Destroying homes, taking food..." said Camicazi in reply.

"Have you ever considered just...leaving them be?" Hiccup asked now.

"My former wife tried that nineteen years ago," Stoick scoffed harshly now, "Not fighting them got her carried off by one-never recovered her. I was left to raise my only son, and even he has vanished without a trace..."

"Perhaps your son was like your wife, and saw another way." Ryker remarked with his arms over his chest.

"My son left the island three years ago. His note just said that he wasn't a dragon killer and needed to find out who he was, he also left with his girlfriend who didn't want to be forced into marriage with another. I searched everywhere-never found a trace of them. I wish I had...the contract for the girl was void because laws state the Heir gets first pick of partner." Stoick sighed some. Hiccup looked at him now, he hadn't known that. They could have stayed on Berk and he'd be allowed to marry Astrid-but regardless of that...they also left to live in peace with their dragons.

"What will you do about your Heir situation, Stoick?" Alvin inquired.

"None of the teens would fit the position so I chose the only other option I had," Stoick closed his eyes, Hiccup eyed him now-what did he mean? "I remarried nine months ago, and my...wife is carrying the next Berk Heir. Due to be born in four months..." he informed. Hiccup's eyes widened, his father remarried and had another child or...would have another one soon?! He wanted so badly to reveal himself but it would cause too many problems if he did-his father would never allow him to leave. Not that it mattered, Hiccup had Toothless with him-hiding in the bottom of the ship. It was for the emergency of needing to get back to Cloud Rider Isle for any reason at all.

"Good for you, old friend." Mogadon smiled brightly. Stoick gave a nod but said nothing else, Hiccup was about to say something when a squawk was heard from above. The sound belonged to a dragon, and looking up they saw a green and yellow Terrible Terror flying in.

"Sharpshot?" Hiccup whispered, the searched around before spotting Hiccup and flew over, landing on his arm.

"What in the name of...?" the others jumped to their feet in shock. Hiccup ignored them as he saw the message tied to his leg, Hiccup removed it as Sharpshot sat on his shoulder licking it's paw and relaxing there. This dragon was Hiccup's messenger of sorts, trained to carry messages to him if he wasn't around-Sharpshot could find him anywhere with a name and direction to fly in. Hiccup read over the message as his eyes widened in fear almost.

"Chief, what's wrong?" Eret asked, Hiccup turned and exited the hall-he rushed right for the docks as another ship was pulling in. The other leaders of their islands hurried after wanting to know about that dragon and why Hedvig was leaving so suddenly. Stopping on the dock, the ship had docked and the board out as two boys ran down it and tackled Hedvig down.

"Dad!" they said together.

"Tore?! Hagen?!...What in the name of Odin are you doing here?" Hiccup asked quickly.

"They wanted to see their father doing chiefly duties, so we followed you. Well, they followed you and we caught up. Been a few hours behind you, storm delayed us." came Viggo's voice as he walked down the board slowly. Ragnar, and Soren were right behind.

"Hey chief!" they waved. Hiccup facepalmed hard as he got up.

"I told you this was not a trip for you. Are you both alright?" Hiccup asked softly. Tore and Hagen nodded as Hiccup sighed, "Your mother must be worried sick and she doesn't need the added stress right now..."

"Don't worry chief. I used...umm, well, I sent word back to the island right after we caught up to inform her." Viggo enlightened him, Hiccup breathed some relief.

"Alright, as chief of this island-I want to know what is going on...Right. Now!" Mogadon demanded.

"Very well," he added as everyone made their way back inside the Great Hall-everyone taking a seat and wanting to understand. "First off, I should I suppose inform you of who all of these people are: my two adopted sons, Tore and Hagen. My second in command, Viggo. My guards are Ryker, Eret, Soren, Goran, and Ragnar. Ivar is still on the ship."

"We're more curious about the dragon who so casually flew in and landed on your arm like a pet bird?" Gobber said now.

"For starters, that would be a Terrible Terror-male, and trained as a messenger for me." Hiccup sighed. All of them blinked now.

"I'm sorry...did you say you... _trained_ a dragon as a messenger for you?" Gunvor asked to confirm Hiccup's words.

"That's right. All Sharpshot here needs is a name and direction to fly in," Hagen smiled.

"I know you two...the sons of that woman I killed because she wanted me to spare your worthless lives when you took care of that dragon," Madguts snickered almost, Hiccup narrowed his eyes as he pulled Tore and Hagen close and then behind him protectively. "I still hear her screams of pa-" he was cut off when Hiccup drew Inferno from his hip and activated the flame blade, pointing it at Madgut.

"If you want to live to see tomorrow-I highly advise you to shut up and leave my boys alone or I will make you, permanently." Hiccup warned coldly.

"I haven't touched them," Madguts spat out.

"Perhaps not physically, but mentally-you hurt them. Reminding them of your merciless, heartless, ruthless act-hurts them. So as I said, shut up and leave them alone. Are we clear?" Hiccup asked, they all looked at the two-wondering if Madguts would back down because he never did, to anyone. However, after a moment-Madguts stepped back calmly with his hands up.

"Fine, fine. I won't talk about it..." Madguts sighed. Hiccup retracted his blade and clipped it back in place on his thigh.

"Smart choice." Hiccup remarked as he moved back towards his wife and children. "Eret, Soren, and Ragnar. Join up with Goran and Folke-return to Cloud Rider Isle. Viggo, Ryker-you stay with me." Hiccup commanded firmly.

"Yes, chief." they replied and the ones he told to return home, left the hall, preparing to leave Meathead Isle.

"Now...could you possibly explain this...training a dragon thing?" Alvin asked.

"What is there to explain? I trained a dragon to carry messages to and from me, it's faster than sending a ship. Terrible Terrors are easy. Sharpshot here is one of the first I ever trained-very loyal too." Hiccup stated.

"One of...how many?" Stock asked.

"Several. It's how my Tribe and I communicate if I'm away. Are we done asking questions now?" Hiccup sighed heavily. "You asked ten minutes ago how my island deals with raids, I'll inform you now that we don't suffer any. Dragons come and go-but they do not attack us. We leave them alone and they leave us alone, it's that simple."

"We'd leave them alone if they left us alone," Gunvor said softly now.

"At the first sight of a dragon, what do you do?" Hiccup asked calmly now. Nothing was said right away, "You draw your weapons, yes?" they nodded, "It is sad that you hate creatures you know nothing about. What have they ever done to you?"

"We've already said that. Generations before us ranging back three hundred years have dealt with raids since vikings first sailed here," Oyvind responded.

"I've been here three years on my island and never had a single problem. You know nothing of the creatures you claim to hate and desire to fight. Here's something to ponder to think about: the dragons were here first." Hiccup reminded. "I don't know about you-but in their eyes, we invaded their lands and pushed them from their homes in order to build our own. Do you desire to know why my island doesn't suffer raids? Because three years ago when my wife and I began building-we did not disrupt their normal life. We found our own little spot and left them alone, we share our island with dragons and don't have a problem."

"I don't believe it. I think you have bad raids and just have no idea how to deal with them," Madguts huffed.

"Hah," Tore snorted with laughter, "Dad can deal with a raid by himself with his skills, and he doesn't even have to try."

"Yeah! Our Dad is the best to deal with dragons." Hagen smiled now.

"Prove it then," Alvin said, "Because I believe a raid is coming right now judging by the screams outside," he added. Mogadon jumped to his feet and hurried over to the hall doors to look outside, sure enough-a raid was starting.

"Can you really stop a full blown raid like this?" Mogadon asked him quickly.

"Yes, and with ease." Hiccup replied.

"You get one chance to prove your words, if you cannot stop this-then we use the way that has worked for years. What do you need us to do?" Mogadon questioned.

Hiccup seemed to grin a little while Viggo, Ryker, and the boys snickered some already knowing what was going to happen. "Stay outta my way, watch and learn." Hiccup said. The others blinked as he moved past Mogadon to see how many he'd be working with, "You call this a raid, thirty dragons? How insulting." he sighed now.

"Well, go on then. Show us almighty dragon master how it's done," Madguts urged.

"Dragon master? That's a new one-although I do prefer dragon trainer," Hiccup chuckled a bit as he stepped outside with his arms crossed over his chest, the others all followed curiously to watch. Hiccup could tell that where they were was likely the highest point on the island which was perfect for him, he took a breath before cupping his hands over his mouth and let out a lour roar that sounded like something very close to a Night Fury's. After that, the dragons seemed to stop and look around for it. Hiccup did it again as they followed the sound of it and located him standing before the hall, gliding or walking over and forming a circle around him. Hiccup pulled Inferno from his hip as he saw the leader of the raid group, a Titanwing Monstrous Nightmare.

"You cannot be serious," Asgeir whispered.

"We weren't lying, our Dad knows what he's doing..." Tore remarked.

The dragons who formed the circle around Hiccup weren't attacking him but still growling and snarling, Hiccup activated the flame blade on Inferno as he held it out in front of him-waving it side to side as the other dragons began to settle and sit down slowly-their heads following the motions that Hiccup was making with his sword. The Titanwing stepped forward now as Hiccup retracted the blade and flipped the weapon around, he set off a green gas while spinning close to the ground as it formed a circle around him and then he sparked it as it set the gas on fire and the Titanwing relaxed some. Hiccup stepped forward with his hand out and the Nightmare leaned in and pressed it's snout to his palm with a purr.

"Atta boy, see. It's okay, you're safe. I won't hurt you." Hiccup smiled as it pulled it's snout away and nudged Hiccup's face a little, licking his cheek. Hiccup laughed a little scratching under it's chin some as Sharpshot squawked a bit and sat on Hiccup's shoulder. "Why don't you take your friends here and follow Sharpshot back to Cloud Rider Isle, you'll be safe there." the dragon seemed to press against him again, "Oh, you want a name too? Alright...how about..." he paused looking over the Nightmare to see it had reds, blacks, silvers. "Silverfang?" the Titanwing growled contently.

"Here, Dad. Note to send back with Sharpshot." Hagen said handing Hiccup the rolled up letter with a piece of string, Hiccup tied it to Sharpshot's leg and pointed Southeast as the Terrible Terror looked and licked his cheek.

"Home, Sharpshot. Take to elder Hella, boy." Hiccup commanded, the dragon gave a small screech before launching into the sky. Silverfang now, roared out as the other dragons took to the sky in a mass group following Sharpshot. Hiccup now faced the other leaders gently. "Told you it was easy,"

"How?!" Dagur asked in shock.

"You touched it!" Camicazi exclaimed.

"You named it!?" Heather said afterwards.

"For people who have been around dragons all their lives, it shocks me to know that none of you understand basic survival." Hiccup began as they fell quiet to listen, "Why do you raise your weapons when you see a dragon?" he asked.

"To protect ourselves," Asgeir replied.

"What do they take when they raid?" Hiccup continued.

"Food..." Gobber said now.

"Survival. They just want to survive because when you sailed here hundreds of years ago, you removed them from their homes and habitats. They return to try and reclaim what is rightfully theirs, and they attack because you attack them. It's survival, they feel threatened as you do." Hiccup remarked hands over his chest still.

"Then...how come that dragon didn't attack you?" Alvin asked.

"I showed it I meant it no harm. My weapon is isn't like yours, it's built with dragon aspects. The blade is just a sword outline that comes out covered in Monstrous Nightmare get-the very thing that allows them to set themselves on fire. The gas is Hideous Zippleback, and a button to spark it. The dragons view me as an ally, not an enemy and as such: won't attack. My island unlike all of yours-share with the dragons. Oh, and I named the Titanwing Nightmare because it makes it more...personal, like friends who don't see each often but have mutual respect for the other," Hiccup explained.

"And how is it you have food for yourselves?" Bertha inquired.

"The dragons feed themselves and we ration. Our Tribe has twenty nine members, thirty when our mom gives birth next month." Hagen smiled gently.

"Would you teach us?" asked Gobber now as Hiccup blinked in surprise.

"Excuse me?" Hiccup inquired.

"How you get them to see you as an ally instead of an enemy. We wouldn't have to fight if we knew another way," Gunvor added, agreeing now.

"I told you how. Mutual respect, trust, and understanding..." Hiccup remarked now.

"You touched it, with no fear for if that dragon would take your arm off...sad to say but a lot of us aren't okay with risking our limbs to stop the fighting. And...what was that call you did to get their attention?" Oyvind asked. Hiccup sighed-he knew this might happen if he showed them that they didn't need to fight the dragons.

"What do you think, Viggo?" Hiccup asked.

"We should show them-if we can trust them," Ryker replied to him.

"Can we though? Trust the people who have killed dragons for hundreds of years for their own selfish gain?" Hiccup questioned.

"You could show them how to obtain trust, chief?" Viggo offered now.

"Yeah, we don't have to show them the rest." Ryker added.

"I suppose you're right. Very well," Hiccup moved back towards them now, "I will show you how to obtain mutual respect, understanding, and trust. On my island only-those who want to learn have to agree by contract that they will not use what I teach to harm the dragons."

Mogadon, Thuggary, Bertha, Camicazi, Gunvor stepped forward nodding. "We'll agree," they said.

"For the rest of you?" Hiccup asked them looking to Dagur, Heather, Oyvind, Asgeir, and Stoick. Hiccup knew Madguts would never agree-the man never allied himself with anyone for any reason at all.

"We should brother, we suffered many losses in the last raid-a few of them were good friends of mine..." Heather said with a hand on Dagur's shoulder. The elder of the Berserker Tribe siblings gave a nod and stepped forward.

"We'll agree as well," Dagur said. Oyvind and Asgeir stepped up next.

"Come on, Stoick...what would it hurt?" Gobber tried to the stubborn Berk chief, "It's what Valka would want. She always wanted peace, this boy has something she prayed for years to obtain...you should do it, for her. She died for this cause, we should honor it."

Stoick closed his eyes as he stood up now and moved beside Mogadon, Gobber beside him. "As will we, how long will we be gone?"

"The travel time with good weather is about seventeen days, perhaps less if you allow your ships to be pulled by a dragon," Hiccup said.

"You can train them to do that?" Dagur asked.

"He sure can," Tore and Hagen smiled wide.

"I don't assume you'd be on the island longer than a few days, chief Stoick." Viggo stated.

"Very well. When do we leave?" Mogadon asked. Hiccup headed for the door with his family and guards, he stopped and looked back at them now.

"Tomorrow at dawn, be ready." Hiccup said before offering a respectful head bow and exiting the hall behind sons, and guards. The others just stared in surprise-how was it that Hedvig was the youngest chief among them yet he discovered something in three years that the rest of them would have never thought about? They were hesitant on going, staying on an island filled with dragons? It was terrifying to consider but Hedvig assured them they'd be safe there and the dragons wouldn't harm them so they'd take his word for it.

"We best eat and get some rest for this trip," Mogadon told the other leaders, nodding in agreement they all moved out of the hall to their stay areas. A few looked to the docks to see Hedvig there with others from his Tribe. Madguts moved right to his ship and left Meathead Isle by 8:30pm the same night. On Hiccup's ship, he made sure they were all fed and relaxing below deck as he had his eyes closed and looked to be asleep but he was actually awake and just deep in thought-praying to Odin he made the right choice to allow these people on his island and were about to teach them how to obtain peace with dragons but not ride or train them. That wasn't happening, no way-he couldn't trust them with that information. A sigh from Hiccup made the others look over at him.

"It's going to be a long trip back..." he muttered lying his head against the ship wall.


	11. Chapter 11

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 11**

~Normal POV~

Hiccup, rather Hedvig was talk of Meathead Isle after he stopped the raid at Mogadon's request. In truth the other leaders wanted another way to handle things, it was why they all got together every year to discuss things regarding raids to their islands and if anyone had success in obtaining peace. For them it was shocking to know a new chief to the Archipelago who ruled over Cloud Rider Isle-a place they'd never heard about until last night-home to the Skywing Tribe was able to to accomplish what they tried for generations to do. This Hedvig Olovsan was able to stop a full raid by roaring, using his weapon, and touching a very large dragon's nose. It was insane, madness, totally out of their norm-but yet: confusing, shocking, and intriguing to the point they wanted to know more. That is why they accepted his offer to go to his island and see how this sharing of the island between his Tribe and the dragons, also to learn how he did what he did.

It was morning now, just before sunrise as the leaders were all on the docks by their respected ships and waiting for Hedvig to show himself since he'd yet to come off his ship to tell them where they were going. Wasn't he who said they were leaving this early? And he was the one not up yet.

"Should we board the ship?" Gobber asked curiously.

"No need. I'm right here," Hiccup stated as he came to main deck level now with a yawn.

"You look like you've been up all night," Heather pointed out.

"I was actually, finding the dragons to pull your ships. Unfortunately, I only have five so you're going to have to share ships for this trip." Hiccup informed. "I would advise you to group up accordingly to where your island rests in the Archipelago." he added.

"Meaning?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup face palmed. "For the love of..." he sighed heavily. "Anyone Southeast of Meathead just group up with another ship. Then when Meathead returns, you can just grab your ship and return to your island afterwards. So to say: Bertha, Asgeir, and Stoick take your own ships. The rest of you group on the Meathead ship and travel together,"

"Oh. Nice planning," Dagur mentioned. Hiccup put his fingers to his mouth and gave a whistle as five Deadly Nadders flew over and landed on the dock. The others flinched a bit being so close to them.

"I'd like you to meet your ship carriers. There are two females and three males, and I chose Nadders because they have the second fastest speed next to the Night Fury-fun fact for ya." Hiccup chuckled some. "Let's load up," he said. Everyone got to the ship they were taking and waited as Hiccup secured a rope to each Nadder's midsection and then the Nadder would sit on the deck of the ship. "Here's how this will go, with the dragons pulling the ships-we'll reach Cloud Rider Isle in three or so days. The Nadder's can fly a pretty long time if fed along the way so on each ship there are small buckets of fish and chicken. At lunch time, they will land on the ship deck and feed before flying again and at night they will come down to eat dinner and sleep."

"We understand." the others nodded.

"Good, then let's sail." Hiccup said getting on his ship and patting the Nadder's neck softly as it squawked and began beating it's wings to pulled the ship from the dock and sail easily. Hiccup gave a whistle as the other Nadder's one by one did the same and soon they were sailing in arrow formation Southwest towards Cloud Rider Isle. This was sure to be a long and headache filled return to the island.

(Two Days Later)

Just as he expected. Long and a headache that wouldn't fade, now he was just sitting below desk with Toothless trying to relax. His dragon crooned at him, "I know...you miss flying. We'll take a night flight when we get home, can't take the risk of them learning we're dragon riders..." Hiccup smiled some as his dragon licked his cheek and Hiccup rubbed his head. Just then, Viggo came down the stairs slightly. "Something wrong?"

"Not at all chief, winds are going Southwest-we just picked up speed." Viggo informed.

"Good, good. Let's get the dragons a break and use the sails," Hiccup said getting to his feet and headed to the main level and checked the other ships-they seemed to be doing well too. That was some relief, "Alright, we got winds going the way we want so we're gonna have the dragons set down on the ships to rest up." Hiccup announced to them.

"Understood!" they called back to him, Hiccup then clapped his hand once as the Nadder pulling his ship glanced back-he gave it a hand command to come back and land on the ship carefully, it squawked and fell back to land on the deck-Hiccup removed the rope and rubbed under it's chin. That Nadder alerted the others to do the same so soon all the Nadders were resting on the ships.

"How close are we to your island, Chief Hedvig?" Asgeir inquired now. Hiccup pulled out his map and glanced over it quickly, they were just past the island that had all the rocks and no caves. Cloud Rider Isle was next-so they were about a day out.

"It's the next one in line, right before the boundary that would exit the Archipelago. If we stay at this speed, we'll arrive tomorrow morning-if not, then by midday." Hiccup informed them. They nodded and continued to just stand around-the time was about 11pm-Hiccup's twins were sleeping below deck near Toothless, and the others were just rather bored. Sailing always took long and Hiccup told them that if it hadn't been for the dragons then they'd likely only be just arriving to Hysteria by now because the trip without dragons was about two weeks and that was if the weather was on their side. They had been in luck these last three days with the winds being either South or West, the seas calm, and of course the dragons gave them a boost of speed.

(Stoick's Ship)

"What's on your mind, Stoick?" Gobber asked when he saw his chief just sitting on a crate by the edge of the ship.

"Ah, it's nothin', Gobber." Stoick replied to his friend.

"It's sometin. Yew been starin' out the sea for an hour now, what going through that head of yers?" Gobber asked again. "Thinkin 'bout the lad, aren't ya?" Stoick glanced over and sighed, "I figured. I know ya miss him," Little did they know that Hiccup's ship was closest to theirs so he could hear their conversation perfectly on the calm night that it was. They were talking about him.

"I don't just miss him, Gobber...I want him to come home, it's been...three years and not a sign of him. Where could he of gone?" Stoick asked.

 _'Closer than you think, Dad...'_ Hiccup thought still listening.

"I don't know-we looked all over the Archipelago for Hiccup. Like you said, not a sign or him or the lass. I know you want to see him again but I think it's time to face fact...he's gone and so is Astrid. If they had wanted to come back-they would have by now." Gobber sighed now.

"Astilla and Asmund have been so depressed, every year on Astrid's birthday they still make something for her and sing happy birthday in her room. I still go to Hiccup's room every day when we're at home and tell him it's time to wake up. I just don't understand why they left. I understand why Astrid did, she just didn't want to marry Snotlout-not that it mattered because the contract was illegal and I would have pointed that out when Spitelout told me about the wedding. But Hiccup leaving too? Saying he had to find who he really was? I still don't know the meaning behind those words," Stoick sighed heavily.

Hiccup truly did want to show his father that he was alive and well but the unnecessary drama that would follow telling him the truth wasn't something Hiccup wanted right now with Astrid about to give birth and having to deal with showing these people how to deal with the dragons another way. It was just too much at once and Hiccup knew if he told Stoick who he was it would start a fight and a mass of explanations he didn't really want to give. Things were better this way, it's not like his father thought he was dead-did he?

"A lot of the village think they died. No one saw them or has seen them. We checked all over the place, every island in the Archipelago, Stoick...it hurts to say but I'm starting to think they didn't make it either," Gobber sighed.

"Don't say that, Gobber! You know they are, Gothi confirmed that for us." Stoick said firmly.

"Well, where are they then, Stoick? The only place left they could be is outside Archipelago boundaries," Gobber stated now.

"Not true. This island we're going to now-none of us have ever heard of it, and we only checking viking inhabited islands. We've never been this far out or met this chief before yesterday...maybe he saw them?" said one of Stoick's boat workers. "Maybe Hiccup and Astrid ended up here? The chief did say that it formed three years ago, the Tribe that is..." he added. Stoick lifted his head, that was right. Hiccup and Astrid left three years ago, and now they are hearing of this...Skywing Tribe that resided on Cloud Rider Isle? The Berk chief stood now and moved to other side of the ship.

"Chief Hedvig?" Stoick asked, Hiccup glanced over to him now. "By any chance among your Tribe, is there a blond hair and blue eyed girl who responds to the name Astrid or perhaps a young man with auburn hair and green eyes who goes by Hiccup?"

I'm afraid not, Chief Stoick. No one on my island has those descriptions," Hiccup replied-he hated lying to his clearly grief stricken father but telling him was a problem Hiccup didn't want or need.

"Oh," Stoick seemed to look down sadly with another sigh.

"That your son you mentioned yesterday? And the girl was his girlfriend?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes. They left just after my son was chosen to kill his first dragon in front of the village. All he left was a note saying he wasn't a dragon killer and needed to find out who he was. Haven't seen him or his girlfriend since," Stoick replied.

"Well, maybe he found himself and hasn't returned for fear of...not measuring up to the son you wanted him to be." Hiccup stated, Stoick looked at him now-curious to what he meant. "You actually remind me a lot of my own father,"

"I don't believe I follow," Stoick replied.

"Would you like me to explain it from my point of view. As I said, I'm an observer and though we've only just met...I gather quite a bit of people by their words, eyes, and how they carry themselves." Hiccup offered, Stoick nodded to him-wanting to know more. "Move over," he said, Stoick moved out of the way as Hiccup backed up towards the other side of his own, took a breath-then ran across, stepped up on the side and jumped across landing on Stoick's ship.

"That was pretty bold move, Hedvig," Gobber blinked.

"I have strong legs, I knew I'd be fine. Have a seat, Stoick." Hiccup invited as he leaned against the side of the ship while Stoick sat down again. "Tell me about the letter your son left?"

"He said he wasn't the champion I believed he was, or the viking son I wanted him to be. That I was right about him not being a dragon killer and couldn't kill the Nightmare for his final exam. He said he didn't know who he was and left to find his place in the world, sorry if he let me down. Said we may meet again and not to worry about his girl because they were safe, that was it really." Stoick said softly.

"Yeah, you're a lot like my dad only you didn't throw your son off the island for being a runt. I know that's what hiccup means, being the runt of the litter. To me, it seems like your son knew he wasn't a dragon killer based on something you said to him about not being one." Hiccup said.

"Aye. I did say that to him a few weeks before I left to search for the dragon's nest. Told him he was many things but a dragon killer wasn't one of them," Stoick looked down-ashamed he'd said that.

"To a child, their parents are their role models. They look to us for guidance, protection, love, even acceptance." Hiccup said as Stoick looked at him now. "Being a runt myself, my village hated me. Always calling me a trouble maker, that I'd be weak and useless all my life and never amount to anything. For me, none of that bothered me-I didn't mind the village hating me, what hurt the most was my father not being there for me. He was always too busy for me. I tried for so long to be the viking son he wanted me to be-but the day I tried to prove it, I ended up making a mess of things and that's when the village cast me and my now wife out-my father didn't even try to stand up for me and explain that I was just a kid who didn't know much because he wasn't around to teach me."

Hiccup knew that wasn't the truth but it was the story he and Astrid created to cover up their pasts, "Sorry yer father treated you that way lad," Gobber said now.

"It's okay. It only bothers me once in a while-but the point is what I learned from all that. I spent years trying to be the son he wanted me to be-however, I realized after he just cast me aside that no matter what I did, I couldn't be something I wasn't. I was always different from the Tribe. I realized all I ever wanted from my father was his acceptance in being myself-for him to accept me as I was, even if I wasn't what he wanted me to be that he still let me be me." Hiccup said.

Stoick looked at him now, thinking on his words. "What I'm saying is that you told your son he wasn't a dragon killer and at some point or another in those few weeks while you were gone, he realized that he in fact wasn't a dragon killer-that he was meant for something else but he didn't know what. His words aren't confusing for someone like me who knows how that feels to not be what he was expected or wanted to be. Hiccup left to find who he was meant to be, and he didn't come back because he was afraid if he found who he was with you around-that you wouldn't accept him as he was. That you would be disappointed in him for not being the son you wanted him to be."

"So he's afraid I wouldn't accept him?" Stoick asked.

"Seems that way to me. He left saying he was sorry if he let you down, that he wasn't the things you saw him as. Believing what you did about him made you proud, yes?" Stoick nodded, "There you go. He didn't want to see the disappointment in your eyes when you realized he wasn't what you saw him to be. My guess is that he stays away that way you never have to see the real him and be disappointed in him. Like me, all he ever wanted was to be accepted and he fears if he showed you who he really was-you wouldn't accept him, wouldn't approve. So he stays away to avoid feeling that hurt of knowing he let you down and he'd never be what you wanted him to be." Hiccup explained gently.

"But how can he assume I wouldn't accept him for who he really is if he doesn't show me who he is, it's like he won't even give it a chance..." Stoick muttered some.

"I feel Hiccup and I are a lot alike so I can ask this feeling he would as you the same thing: did you ever accept him before dragon training where you saw him being a champion? You said yourself he wasn't a dragon killer, so did you assume he was meant for something else and it wasn't what you wanted. You wanted him to be like you, Stoick. Didn't you? To follow in your footsteps of being a great chief to lead the people?" Hiccup said now as Stoick lifted his head a little surprised.

"Of course I wanted him to be like me, he's my son. Always causing trouble when he was a kid, his silly inventions that failed and broke or set something on fire...but he was still my boy. But when he started trainin', Gobber told me how well he was doing and I had new hope that maybe he was meant to be like me. A dragon killer, a chief...I'd never been prouder to see him doing what I thought he couldn't do." Stoick said.

"Exactly. He knew he made you proud finally, that you accepted him for something he knew he wasn't but kept it up so you wouldn't be disappointed. However, being something you know you aren't-eventually...you can't keep up the act anymore and have to stop. Your son did just that by leaving the island in order to find who he really was. He had your acceptance when you thought he was like you, would be you. Tell me, Stoick-would Hiccup still have that acceptance if he returned and told you that he found himself and it wasn't what you were expecting it to be. What if came back and told you he was like his mother who wanted peace with dragons? Would you still accept him if he wasn't like you? Because he didn't have your acceptance before dragon training and you admitted that." Hiccup stated now.

"I accepted him before that, he's my son..." Stoick said, Hiccup shook his head.

"No. You accepted he was a troublemaker and he'd never be like you-then you saw him being like you and he made you proud right? So what if he came back and suddenly wasn't like you anymore? Would you still accept him if you found out everything you saw was just an act?" Hiccup asked, now curious of the answer himself.

"If he came back and wasn't like me suddenly, learning everything he did was a lie? I'd be very disappointed," Stoick said as Hiccup fought flinching, "but I'd love and accept him regardless because he is still my son and all I want is for him to come home, I just want to know he's okay. I don't need him to be a dragon killer, or champion...I just need him to be my son. I realized that after he left...I'd already lost my wife, losing Hiccup...it nearly killed me. Hiccup was a lot like Val, and maybe that's why I pushed him so hard to be like me...so I wouldn't lose him the same way I lost her-because they were different and I lost them anyway..." Stoick looked down with his eyes closed. "I'd give anything to just see him again and tell him I love him no matter who he is."

Hiccup couldn't believe what he was hearing, his father would still accept him no matter who he was? No, it wasn't true. His father would die of a heart attack to learn his son was chief of a dragon riding village. Hiccup knew that, it went against everything a viking stood for. Stoick hated dragons, he always had and more so when Hiccup's mother was taken by one and never found again. If Stoick found out Hiccup had trained and was rider of a Night Fury, chief of a dragon rider village, married at eighteen, adopted two twins, and was now about to have a child-he would lose his mind. No matter what Stoick said, Hiccup knew his father would never accept him-not this. Anything else, maybe-but not this.

"Tell him that," Stoick said as Hiccup looked over now, "if he ever crosses your island or you pass him on travels. Tell my son I love him and I want him to come home with Astrid and show me who he really is because I will accept him no matter matter what."

Hiccup nodded as he stood up now, "If I ever see him, I'll tell him that for you. Chief's honor," Hiccup replied.

"Thank you, Chief Hedvig for putting things into perspective for me." Stoick said now as he held out his hand, Hiccup shook it with a nod before getting the running start at returning to his ship.

"Get some rest, we'll arrive tomorrow." Hiccup said before going below deck and out of sight.

Gobber looked at Stoick now, "Ya know, that boy does actually remind me of the lad. I swear it could be him if he had auburn hair and the scar on his chin-but maybe that's me missing lil 'Iccup that sees the similarities between them. Ah well, best be getting some sleep." Gobber went below deck of the ship now as Stoick just sat there thinking about it all.

(Next Afternoon)

The sun was high, waters glistening and calm with few white clouds above the five ships sailing towards Cloud Rider Isle-which Hiccup could finally see coming into view, they'd be there within thirty minutes. He was glad to be home, he couldn't wait to hug Astrid again-and he'd need time to explain things to her when she saw the others who returned with him.

"Orders for the extras chief?" Ryker asked.

"Send them to the caves, explain the rules, and get them something to eat. Once they are secured, get Toothless to my house to hide out. I've gotta talk to Astrid," Hiccup stated.

"Yes sir," Ryker nodded to him.

"Are you going...to alert them we have _outsiders_ , Dad?" Hagen asked, Hiccup nodded as he put his fingers to the corners of his mouth and released a loud whistle-within three minutes, Sharpshot flew over and landed on his arm.

"Hey boy, take this to Astrid for me?" Hiccup smiled tying the note to Sharpshot's leg, the dragon licked his cheek and took off again. "Your mother will take care of it," he added, the boys nodded to him as they all stood there waiting to arrive.

(Thirty Minutes Later)

Upon arriving, Hiccup's ship docked first as he jumped over the side to see Astrid standing there in her usual disguise for outsiders coming into the island. "There's my beautiful wife," Hiccup smiled as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply, then placed a hand on her belly-rubbing it some as Astrid giggled. "How's the little one?"

"Doing fine, Eydis just checked me yesterday-still on time to deliver in a few weeks." Astrid replied, "And you two are grounded! How dare you sneak out of the house to follow your father on a two week journey." she scolded when she saw the twins nervously hiding behind Viggo and Ryker.

"Settle down, Milady. Don't need you going into labor now. But your mother is right boys, what you did was dangerous and we'll discuss a punishment later. Get to the house and wash up for lunch," Hiccup said firmly.

"But Dad!" they tried. Hiccup pointed to the house.

"I won't be hearing it. To the house now!" he ordered again. The boys sighed in defeat and walked to the house as Hiccup shook his head.

"You have some explaining to do as well, Mr. Olovsan..." Astrid poked a finger into his chest.

"I'll tell you when we're alone..." Hiccup motioned to the others who were docked and standing on the docks now. Astrid nodded to him as they turned and faced the other leaders. "Chieftains, I'd like to introduce you to my wife and chieftess of the island; Alva Olovsan. Babe, this is: Chief Dagur and his sister, Heather of the Berserker Tribe. Chief Mogadon and his son Thuggary of Meathead Isle, Chief Asgeir and his guard Eluf of Hysteria, Chief Oyvind and his son Anders of Waterlands. Chief Gunvor and his daughter Dagny. You know Chieftess Bertha and her daughter Camicazi of Bog Isle, and finally..." Hiccup took a breath, "Chief Stoick and his good friend Gobber of the Hairy Hooligans from the island of Berk."

"A pleasure to meet you all. May I be the first to welcome you to Cloud Rider Isle, home of the Skywing Tribe. I hope your stay will be enjoyable. Viggo. Ryker. Will you take them to their stay areas please?" Astrid said with a smile.

"Right away, Chieftess Alva," the Grimborn brothers nodded motioning for the others to follow. Astrid and Hiccup headed towards their house, once inside she faced him with her arms crossed over her chest and a very displeased look on her face as Hiccup knew he was suddenly in _a lot_ of trouble with his wife.


	12. Chapter 12

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 12**

~Hiccup's POV~

I knew I'd be in trouble with my wife when I sent that letter off with Sharpshot to tell her to activate outsider incoming plan Alpha. All my quick note had said was: _I'll explain later-I'm arriving in thirty minutes with the chieftains of the other islands aside from Murderus. I need you to do your hair and activate outside plan Alpha for me please. Love you, -Hic_. I knew she'd do as I asked and put on the act like we always did with outsiders who came into our midst-but I also knew that after the smiling and greeting was over we'd go to our house and I'd get the famous arms over the chest and death glare that I was terrified of. Astrid was scary when she was mad, and maybe it was the pregnancy but she was downright terrifying when she was mad now. I knew she would want to know how something like this was even discussed or suggested to bring all of them with me to the island we fought hard to keep hidden from others because of our dragon riding and training.

"Start talking, Hiccup..." Astrid demanded firmly.

"You might want to take a seat for this," I sighed heavily as she uncrossed her arms from over her chest and sat down on the couch near the fire. I took a breath and began to explain everything about from the moment I arrived to Meathead Isle to when we were all leave the docks there and using Nadders to pull the five ships to cut the time in half of travels from there to Cloud Rider Isle. I didn't touch base on the conversation with Stoick on his ship the night before or that my father had remarried and fathered another child as Heir with my being gone from Berk. Also because of Astrid being so close to giving birth, I didn't tell her about her parents still desiring her to go home because they missed her even now three years later.

"And this is everything?" Astrid asked me.

"Yes, Love. It's everything regarding how they came to following me back-they just want to understand in an attempt to lessen their raids. That's...what these meetings are for, to find a way to deal with them. When they saw me handle the raid with a few simple steps, it intrigued them to want to learn as well." I told her softly.

"And you're just going to show them how to settle them down and have them leave? No riding or training, right?" Astrid arched a questioning brow at him.

"Right. I don't know if I can trust them with that just yet and they only know that dragons reside her-not that we have our own. That's why I had you make sure to let the Tribe know to remove the saddles from their dragons and hide my saddle making things in the side room off the forge. Now they just see dragons flying around and being friendly. I'm just going to show them how to obtain mutual understanding, respect, and trust. And they will be under contract not to use that information to trap, or kill the dragons. Viggo and I were working on it while sailing, and they will be signing them tomorrow before we start anything. They won't be here long, Astrid, I promise." I assured her by reaching a hand over to hold hers with hopeful eyes that she'd stop being mad at me.

Astrid sighed lightly as her eyes began to soften, "Alright...I don't like this, Hiccup. I don't...we hid our island this long to avoid having them here and curious about our ways of life. You know they'll want to start alliances, trade routes, and more now, don't you?" Astrid asked.

"I know-but I've told them we keep to ourselves. That this was only to assist in their raids..." I stated gently.

"Very well, babe. I suppose we couldn't have hid forever anyway and we did say we'd eventually show people the truth when the opportunities arose for us too," Astrid replied now.

"Exactly, we'll take baby steps with it. First was me informing them that there are other ways, second was showing them they didn't need weapons, and now it can be showing how to obtain certain things to avoid fighting and raids. It will take some time before we reveal the training or riding aspects of it all. Those are dangerous waters to tread so soon so we'll take our time with it." I smiled as I kissed the back of her hand.

"I can live with that. So now, we have something else to discuss...the twins's punishment." Astrid looked to me seriously now. I nodded to her, what they did was dangerous and a lot of things could have gone wrong if Viggo hadn't found them and sailed along with the others. "What do you suggest?"

"Well they snuck off without telling anyone, took a ship and tried to sail it themselves. Viggo informed me that when they located them-Tore and Hagen were headed North towards the Hatching Grounds Island. Viggo turned them around back on the right path to Meathead and stayed with them, as did Ragnar, and Soren. I think that should automatically call for at least a week of stable duty." I offered.

"And no training either. Give them a little time to think about what they did," Astrid added.

"Fair point," I nodded agreeing. "Boys! Get down here!" I called now as Tore and Hagen moved down the stairs slowly and stood before their father and mother-who was sitting.

"Yes, Dad?" they said together with their heads down.

"I understand you wanted to watch me work-however, you need to understand what you did was very dangerous because you did not know what you were doing. You were going in the wrong direction, towards the dragon hatching grounds which I'd like to remind you is where wild dragons reside. The dragons on our island are trained by me and that is why they are safe to be around. You could have been hurt or killed and no one would have known where you were because you didn't tell anyone." I began firmly.

"We're sorry, Dad...we won't do it again." Hagen said as Tore nodded.

"I know you won't, and to ensure you don't. Your mother and I have come up with a fair punishment, for one week and that is seven days: you will be on stable duty, also you will not be training with your dragons." I enlightened them. "You will clean the stables for our dragons, meaning Toothless, Stormfly, Firewing, and Sharpclaw two times a day-once in the after breakfast and once before dinner. The rest of your day with lunch as the break-you will be working in the barn. Collecting furs, milk, and eggs and giving them to the barn master. If you finish all that with time to spare-you can help harvest from the fields. Understand?"

"Yes, Dad." both responded now.

"Good. Now let's have a quiet lunch together," I said as Astrid got up slow and brought over the food she'd prepared to the table as we all sat down to enjoy a family meal. All in all, I was glad to be back home with my wife and boys. Sure I had to deal with the other chieftains-but I didn't mind because very soon, Astrid would be giving birth and our child would be here! It was nerve wracking and exciting to think about-but in truth, neither of us could wait for the arrival of our first child.

(Next Day)

~Normal POV~

The remainder of the day after returning to Cloud Rider Isle was simple. There was a lot of unpacking and unloading to be done, Toothless was successfully snuck back into the Haddock house without the others seeing him, lunch and dinner were handled at their proper times as well as patrols. The night ended early for Hiccup and the boys, Astrid too-they were all in bed by 8pm due to everything. Astrid's pregnancy alone made her tired, then for Hiccup and the twins, the trip had tired them out. So when the next morning came, all of them were well rested. Hiccup began his day when the sun rose on patrol with Viggo and Ryker.

"Good morning, chief." Ryker greeted.

"Morning. I trust there were no issues through the night?" Hiccup inquired.

"None sir. Eret reported it to be calm with no sightings," Viggo nodded.

"And last full patrol was an hour ago," Ryker added.

"That's what I like to hear. That means we don't have to do one right now and can relax a little until breakfast," Hiccup smiled softly.

"What is your plan with the chieftains?" Viggo asked curiously.

"Well, once everyone signs the contract we can get started. I don't intend to show them much, just the mutual aspects between dragons and humans. They aren't ready to learn of the riding just yet, baby steps if you would." I informed.

"Seems fair. You know they will want to be a part of our lives now that they know we're here, how will we handle that?" Viggo questioned now.

"As it comes. Some may not be keen on working with an island full of dragons so I'm not worried about it right now. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Hiccup replied.

"Understood sir. Most of them are awake right now, we walked by on our way here," Ryker enlightened calmly.

"It's a chief thing. I'm up at this hour too, most start their day before the sun does." Hiccup shrugged. "You gave them rules of the island and how things run around here?"

"Yes chief." both replied to him with a nod.

"Good, at least they are aware. Grab them just after breakfast and lead them to the forest entrance, I'll meet you there." Hiccup stated.

"Orders understood." Viggo said as Ryker nodded to him. Hiccup gave a nod in response as he moved back to his house and inside to start making breakfast for his wife and twin sons. He only made eggs, toast, and some boar belly strips, along with a mug of yak milk. Hiccup set everything up on the table before looking outside and making sure the sun was up. He smiled as he moved to the boy's room first and woke them up, then he went to wake his wife up.

"Hey...time to wake up, Love." Hiccup shook her some, she groaned a bit and turned her head to the side-not more than a moment later she leaned over the side of the bed and threw up in a bucket. Hiccup frowned, he didn't like when Astrid was sick-he slowly rubbed her back hoping the nausea would pass. Hiccup checked her forehead and was somewhat relieved to find she didn't have a fever, after ten minutes or so she laid back again with a hand over her belly. "Feel better?" he asked gently.

"A little," Astrid replied softly.

"Up to eating? I made breakfast," Hiccup informed.

"I think I'll hold off for a bit, let my stomach settle." Astrid smiled as Hiccup kissed her forehead nodding. "Go feed the boys, I'll be okay. I was uncomfortable most of last night, I'm gonna try to get more sleep."

"Are you sure? Do you want me to get Eydis for you?" Hiccup asked softly. Astrid shook her head smiling to him.

"No, I'm okay, Hiccup...really. Go on with the boys, I'll see you for lunch." Astrid told him.

"Alright. Let me know if you feel worse and we'll take you to Eydis's, babe. I love you." Hiccup kissed her gently.

"I love you too," Astrid replied, Hiccup covered her up as he left the room and returned downstairs to eat with the boys.

"After breakfast, I want you both to start on your punishment. Alright?" Hiccup told them firmly.

"Yes, Dad." Tore and Hagen replied to him while eating their food quietly. Hiccup had covered Astrid's plate and set it on the wooden counter for her to eat later if she wanted too, when they had finished-Hiccup sent them to start on the dragon's stables while he cleaned up and then left the house to meet Viggo, Ryker, and the other chieftains in the forest. It only took Hiccup about fifteen minutes to walk there and he had told the boys to keep an eye on their mother.

(Forest Entrance)

"Morning again, chief." Viggo and Ryker greeted him when they saw him walking up to them.

"Morning boys. I trust there were no issues?" Hiccup asked them.

"None at all sir. Orders?" Ryker inquired.

"Why not go check on the village? Offer assistance, oh, and pop into my house every hour or so to check on my wife. She's feeling a bit sick today, trying to sleep it off." Hiccup stated firmly.

"Yes, of course sir. Should we get you if she gets worse?" Viggo questioned.

"One of you get me, then Eydis, and the other one stay with Alva. I don't want her alone if she gets worse. She threw up this morning for ten minutes and to my knowledge hasn't eaten breakfast yet. She said she was uncomfortable and didn't sleep well, also she doesn't have a fever-but I still want an eye on her while I'm doing this." Hiccup informed.

"Orders understood, chief Hedvig." the two brothers said as they offered a slight bow with their hands over their chests and then headed back to the village. Hiccup now faced the chieftains before him with calm look on his face.

"So. Are you ready?" Hiccup asked them.

"We are," they nodded.

"Then follow me, and do stick together." Hiccup instructed as he headed into the forest with them following him. The walk was a good twenty in before they stopped in a clearing where there were a few different species of dragons laying about in the sun, eating, or getting a drink from the watering hole. "In order to combine the two worlds, one must first understand the creatures they will be sharing with. So tell me, who knows the types of dragons seen here?"

"Those are...Deadly Nadders," Camicazi pointed out to a group of Nadders sunbathing.

"Correct. What other kinds are there?" Hiccup asked.

"Terrible Terrors, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Nightmares..." Gobber continued. Hiccup nodded to him as no one else said anything.

"Not sure on the rest, never seen some of these before..." Gunvor stated.

"Rumblehorns-part of the Tracker class. Speedstingers, Razorwhips-part of Sharp class. Hotburples-part of Boulder class. Thunderdrums-part of Tidal class. Hobblegrunts-Stoker class, and finally, Changewings, Snaptrappers, Buffalords-Mystery class. Oh, and this guy right here is Strike class-we call him the Triple Stryke." Hiccup explained.

"You know you're dragons," Thuggary blinked some.

"We have our own book of dragons-I spend a fair amount of time traveling the islands and studying the various types of dragons around the Archipelago. I even bring a few back if they are willing of course. A few you don't see are Scauldrons, Night Terrors, Smothering Smokebreaths, Singetails, Flightmare, Typhoomerangs, Fireworms, Armorwings, Cavern Crashers, Deathsong, Seashockers, Whispering Deaths, Screaming Death, Catastrophic Quakens, Timberjacks, Stormcutters, Raincutters, Skrill, Snow Wraiths, and Woolly Howls." Hiccup listed off and then saw their confused faces, "I know. A bunch of dragons you've never heard of before-they roam around here from time to time or they live on islands close by. Most of that reason is that this isn't their habitat," he added.

"Oh, that would make sense then." Heather mentioned gently.

"Yeah, that list right there was a bunch of Tidal, Boulder, Sharp, and Strike class dragons." Hiccup shrugged.

"So...how do we do this...understanding, trusting, respecting thing?" Gobber asked.

"You'll see." Hiccup chuckled some as he walked over towards the dragons-they saw him and snarled a bit but he put his hands up and showed he had no weapons on him while the dragons calmed some and sniffed him, "There we go. It's just me-you're old friend," he said, one dragon raised it's tail as suddenly Stormfly jumped in front of him and squawked loudly at the other Nadder who lowered it's head and relaxed. "Thanks for that, Stormfly." Hiccup rubbed under her chin as she purred happily.

"Seems like that one knows ya well," Oyvind stared now.

"This is Stormfly, one of the dragons I work with a lot. She's a friend and always has my back," Hiccup smiled as Stormfly nudged his shoulder-clearly wanting to fly since Astrid couldn't with being pregnant and all. "Awe, don't worry girl. We'll take a flight tonight," he whispered to her as she licked his cheek and he chuckled a bit.

"She came to protect you pretty fast," Mogadon mentioned.

"Always does, ain't the right girl?" Stormfly turned some used her wing to lift Hiccup up and into the air as he landed on her back. "Woah, easy there, Stormfly. I'm not a kid anymore," he laughed some as she squawked.

"She lets you on her back?" the others blinked in surprise.

"Of course. She found me when I was twelve, 'bout a year after being here...I got lost in the forest and tripped hurting my ankle. Couldn't walk on it or call for help, Stormfly came across me and protected me through the night. The next morning she let me on her back and carried me back to mine and Alva's place. Stormfly is always close by to keep an eye on us," Hiccup rubbed under her chin as she smiled and squawked contently.

"I guess there is a lot we didn't know about them," Camicazi stated gently standing with Heather and Dagny.

"Because much like my old village-you only saw heartless monsters who only cared for food and bloodshed. In truth, they are only trying to survive just as we do. You attack them trying to protect your villages and they are trying to return the homes they use to live on. Most of these islands were their homes, their natural habitats. That's why I don't mind them here, they don't hurt us and we share all this island has to offer. Both dragon and human, they are just like us. Trying to survive, take care of their families, and not be hurt. Here, there is peace." Hiccup smiled some.

"Show us how to have this, Hedvig. We're willing to learn," Asgeir said as the others nodded agreeing.

Hiccup nodded to them as Stormfly lowered herself, Hiccup climbed off and patted her neck, "We'll use Stormfly to begin. I know she can play along, the others might actually attack you because they don't know you." Hiccup said as Stormfly squawked some at him, "Stormfly. Battle ready!" he commanded while stepping back as Stormfly had her tail up and spikes at the ready. "First lesson: calm down a threatened dragon." he said.

"Wait! Aren't you going to teach us first!" Dagur exclaimed as Stormfly whipped her tail towards them.

Hiccup only grinned some moving out of range, "I believe in learning on the job." Gobber seemed to freeze as he looked over at Hedvig with wide eyes.

 _'No, it couldn't...possibly be him...'_ Gobber thought slowly. Those words that Hedvig said, Gobber had said the very same ones when Hiccup was in dragon training three years ago. This...young chief couldn't be Hiccup, could he be?

 **~*Author's Note;** _Hello all! Wishing all my fans a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Also, there is a poll up for the story people wanna see after Something New is over. Be sure to vote! Thank you for the continued support! -Nightstar Fury_ ***~**


	13. Chapter 13

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 13**

~Normal POV~

Hiccup probably shouldn't find this amusing in any way, shape, or form-yet he was laughing it up on the inside watching them try to calm down Stormfly. Only two people knew how: himself and Astrid. If they couldn't figure it out then he would step in but they had to figure out on their own that having their weapons out made her feel threatened so she'd fight to defend herself. Stormfly knew this was training so she wouldn't actually hit them-but with her pinpoint accuracy, she would strike pretty close to scare them. The first thing they had to do was learn how to calm down an angry, threatened dragon and the only way to do that was lower their weapons and show that they meant no harm to them. When they figured that out, they could move on to the second lesson: understanding the problem. After that it would be gaining their trust-following that was mutual respect for their respected species. Hiccup was only watching then run around the field trying to stay clear of the dragons-he happened to notice though that Gobber was moving slower and watching him instead of Stormfly.

~Gobber's POV~

I knew those words like the back of my hook. Three years ago, I had said them to the other teens and Hiccup when they started dragon training while Stoick had been looking for the dragon's nest. The kids were just starting against the Gronckle and Snotlout had yelled 'aren't you gonna teach us first' so I responded with 'I believe in learnin' on the job'. I had said it before that this guy could pass off for Hiccup if he had the auburn hair and scar on the right side of his chin. The more I thought about things, the more wondered if maybe it really was him because the story he gave us-unless he was from outside the Archipelago-didn't make sense. None of the islands in Archipelago boundaries had confessed to tossing out two eleven year old children and also on that, this chief kept saying three years ago. If he and his now wife had been cast out at eleven, why would he keep saying three years ago.

I noticed the stories seemed to be mixing and what triggered that was knowing Hedvig kept saying three years ago-that's how long Hiccup and Astrid had been gone. I continued to keep looking over and seeing Hedvig watching them with his arms crossed over his chest and silently at that. I needed to get close to him, I needed to see his eyes up close and I would know if this chief was Hiccup or not. I practically raised that boy from the time he was five, I would know if this man was the boy I raised or not if I could just get close enough to see his eyes. I had listened closely when Hedvig and Stoick talked last night and I could hear the sadness in his voice when he talked about how his father was with him and it made me think.

Hedvig said that Stoick and his father were a lot alike, and he said that he felt Hiccup and himself were a lot alike-that's why he could make the comparisons he did by asking Stoick if he'd still accept Hiccup knowing who he really was. I needed to talk to this chief, I needed to be closer to him to know for sure but my gut was telling me that the little boy I raised and taught all my forge knowledge to was currently standing six feet away from me right now, teaching us how to understand, respect, and trust dragons. And if Hiccup was chief to this island and Tribe-then it would stand to reason that young Astrid was his pregnant wife-who was feeling well and about to give birth in a few weeks to hers and Hiccup's first child.

"This is impossible!" Alvin yelled out dodging another spike.

"Would you like a hint!?" Hiccup called down to them. We nodded quickly, "Would you stop fighting if surrounded by weapons?" we seemed to freeze and looked at our weapons in hand as Hedvig grinned a bit from his location.

"Toss the weapons!" Gunvor yelled from the other side of the field while rushing over to us. "It's...the weapons. The dragon thinks we want to hurt it!" he added as he stood before Stormfly and slowly lowered his weapon to the ground then kicked it away. Stormfly didn't attack him for being so close to him-the other chieftains and us secondaries who traveled with them seemed to copy the movement and put ours down as Stormfly lowered her spikes flat again and sniffed curiously.

"Good work. You figured it out, the only way to show a dragon you mean it no harm is to put your weapons aside and stay calm yourself." Hedvig said walking over now as he scratched under Stormfly's neck as she relaxed fully and nuzzled against him while he smiled. "Good girl, Stormfly." Stormfly licked his chin as Hedvig didn't realize that I noticed the scar on the right side of his chin, the dragon's saliva took off whatever he had covering and that was all I needed to believe my first thoughts. The man standing in front of us was Hiccup. I decided to keep my mouth shut for now-I'd confront Hiccup later about all this. I knew he'd worked hard to have all he did now so I wouldn't rat him out to everyone-it could start a lot of problems and he didn't need that with his wife, Alva, rather Astrid now being just a few weeks away from giving birth.

"So what's next?" Heather panted a bit.

~Normal POV~

Hiccup seemed to grin a bit and the others felt nervous, "Next, you'll be learning to understand them and what they want. I'll demonstrate," he said as Stormfly seemed to nudge him and squawk softly-sniffing around him. "What is it?" the dragon purred almost. Hiccup reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of chicken, Stormfly's eyes lit up. "You're hungry?" the dragon pressed her snout to his cheek some, Hiccup then tossed her the piece of chicken as she caught it and ate it down in a single bite.

"How did you know she was hungry?" Camicazi asked now.

"Her actions. She continued to sniff around me, my bag specifically which has food in it and then her eyes lit up when I pulled the food out. I asked her if she was hungry, she pressed against me. To me that was her way of saying yes so I gave it to her. They can't communicate by words, but they have a body language you have to watch closely to understand. So what we're gonna work on is you understanding what they want. Most of the time it's food-that's why they raid because they are hungry and as I said, when you moved onto your islands, you removed them from their habitat. For example, this Razorwhip eats seaslugs and this island is crawling with them so if she were to leave she would struggle to find another island that has a healthy supply of them." Hiccup explained. The others nodded to him and for the next hour they worked on understanding what the dragons could want from them.

"Very good, all of you. You know the basics. Now we're gonna work on earning their trust, and in return you have to give your own to them." Hiccup said.

"Is this the whole...touching them thing?" Gobber asked now.

"Not always, that's just kind of my thing. Another way goes back to understanding body language and actions." Hiccup informed slowly. "So let me ask this: when you hear trusting a dragon and giving your own, what do you think it means?"

"That...we trust them and they trust us?" Thuggary replied.

"To a degree. The goal here is for them to trust you not to hurt them, and you to trust them not to hurt you." Hiccup answered now. So you're going to split up and work with a different dragon, can't keep using Stormfly because she's trained to follow my commands. You'd be working with wild dragons on your islands so it would stand to reason you use wild dragons to learn with." he added. They nodded and for the next few hours they working on the two species trusting one another but Stoick, Gobber, Alvin, Savage, and Dagur were still having some trouble getting it.

"I don't know how you do it so easily," Stoick mumbled to Hedvig.

"You're not giving your full trust, you're hesitating due to fear." Hiccup replied to him as he stepped forward off the rocks now and put a hand up to calm the dragons, they sat back and relaxed some. "Why do you fear the dragons?"

"One took my wife twenty years ago. She always said peace was possible, and that theory was gone with her when she was taken," Stoick sighed.

"It's a grudge then. You have to let it go or you will never be able to do this," Hiccup stated. "We'll come back to it, time for a break. I need to check on my wife, come along. We'll return to this after lunch," he added. The others seemed to nod and follow him through the forest-Stormfly too. Coming to the edge twenty minutes later, Hiccup led them back to their stay areas in the row of caves. "You'll find that there has been food placed in there for you. Viggo and Ryker will be by to collect you after lunch hour is over. Until then, enjoy your meals." with that, Hiccup headed out of the area and towards his house. The village itself was set in a small area that closely resembled a cove but it had a beach area that faced South towards the Archipelago boundary. The rest was rock, hills, some mountains, and what not. The rocks and trees hid their village from sight and kept it well protected, to most sailors-it just looked like an island full of dragons which normally deterred people.

The caves were set up against the rock wall-Hiccup renovated them to temporary stay areas for others who either crash or stumble upon the island. The cave wall also sported some rock staircases to allow to get higher ground and more of the forest-but there was another forest entrance to the left and right that required some hill climbing to get in. Of course there were other beaches too, but their main one was where the docks were. Sailing from any direction around them, they only saw an island full of dragons-however, if they actually made it around the island or managed to get on the island-they would see the village it housed within. The chieftains were still amazed at this small Tribe and all they had there, they separated and moved to their caves to eat lunch and relax a little from the training. Hiccup made it to his house and smiled upon walking in to see the boys and Astrid there sitting at the table together and eating their lunches, looked to be chicken sandwiches.

"Hey babe, there you are." Astrid greeted gently.

"Hello, Milady. How are you feeling this afternoon?" Hiccup asked while giving her a light kiss on the cheek then ruffled the hair belonging to his sons.

"Much better than before. I guess I just needed some more sleep," Astrid replied as she handed him a plate with chicken sandwich, grilled potato and butter, then of course a cup of yak milk.

"You're the best, thank you." Hiccup smiled to her as she beamed and sat down to continue eating, "Boys, how are the stables?" he inquired next.

"Toothless's, Stormfly's, Firewing's and Sharpclaw's are done. We've been in the barn with Albin and Jonas for the last hour or so working on getting eggs, yak milk, and goat milk. After we're collecting wool for the winter," Hagen replied.

"Very good," Hiccup nodded approvingly.

"How did training go?" Astrid asked now.

"Going well. Took them about an hour to figure out they couldn't have their weapons out to calm a dragon down, and then it took a few more hours to work on trusting one another. Few of them still don't have it like Gobber, Dagur, Stoick, Savage, and Alvin." Hiccup shrugged some while taking a bite of his sandwich.

"You think it'll change anything?" Astrid questioned.

"Well, they promised under contract not to use the information to harm the dragons and I will be training them each a Terrible Terror to send messages to and from, as well each other. Then if there is a problem, they can contact me about it." Hiccup offered.

"Not a bad idea. Can I come help train with you?" Astrid asked, Hiccup blinked a bit. "Please? I don't want to be cooped up in the house the next few weeks until I give birth. I'll stay out of the way and next to Stormfly. Please, baby?" she asked again.

"Alright, but you ride on Stormfly. I don't want you walking there. Deal?" Hiccup asked, Astrid nodded smiling happily. The rest of their lunch was pretty peaceful, the boys cleaned up for their parents and rushed off to the barn again-Hiccup helped Astrid out of the house and onto to Stormfly as he hopped on behind and Stormfly began to move towards the caves. "You lot ready to continue?" he called to them, slowly they all came out.

"Ah, chieftess Alva! You're joining the fun too?" Ryker asked calmly.

"Yes, I was sick of sitting in the house." Astrid chuckled a bit.

"Your husband just worries about you. You are carrying the Cloud Rider Isle Heir," Viggo smiled.

"I know but I still don't want to sit in the house all day." Astrid smiled now as they all began moving into the forest to the spot they were in last time. "So what training are we doing?" she asked when they arrived.

"You are staying next to Stormfly and I am training. That was the deal, Milady." Hiccup reminded, Astrid huffed a bit. "Don't get huffy with me just because I care about you. You only have a few weeks left, I don't want you going into labor early."

"Yes sir." Astrid mumbled.

"Sarcastic little smart-ass." Hiccup sighed some shaking his head then looked to the other chieftains. "Alright you lot, back to work." he told them. "You five...over here. We're gonna try something different," he mentioned pointing to Stoick, Gobber, Alvin, Savage, and Dagur. Hiccup put his fingers to his mouth and gave a whistle to a group of Gronckles-who walked over and sat down on either side of Hiccup. "We have three males and two female here, line up in front of them and relax yourselves. First thing you'll want to do is remove your weapons-don't get scared or worried if they growl. It's their natural defense to worry you'll attack. Show your weapons, and show the dragons that you're putting them down and away from you but don't leave your spot."

Slowly they all removed their weapons slowly and set them down on the ground without moving much, they kicked them off to the side as the dragon's relaxed a little but remained hesitant. "Now what?" Savage asked.

"Patience is key," Astrid chimed in gently while relaxing against Stormfly.

"You five can't seem to give them your trust fully out of what I assume is fear to be harmed by them-the only way to overcome fear is to just do it. So today, you're going to touch a dragon and erase the fear you feel." Hiccup smiled as they blinked at him. "Stand straight, hands at your sides, take a few deep breaths. Calm yourselves and repeat the line silently; Dragons are my friends. They won't hurt me if I don't hurt them." Hiccup gave them a few minutes to go over that, "Alright, everyone relaxed?" they nodded. "Good. Now, you're going to close your eyes and hold that feeling of being relaxed. When you feel me touch your shoulder, I want you to put your dominant hand out with the palm up and turn your head-eyes still closed- off to the side."

They nodded and did as he had said to with their eyes closed. Others who already passed the trust test stopped to watch now, Hiccup moved behind the group of five and made sure they were ready-first he tapped Savage's shoulder and the man did as he was supposed too. Next it was Dagur, then following him was Alvin and Gobber. Finally, Hiccup moved to his father and tapped his shoulder. Stoick hesitantly tried to put his hand out out, "Don't be afraid. Your wife wanted peace, right? Show her that you found the way. The dragons won't hurt you, you just have to trust in that and give that trust to the dragon before you." Hiccup told him calmly, Stoick took a deep breath as he put his hand out to the Gronckle who sniffed him a few times. "That's right now hold a moment, don't move..."

Slowly the dragons moved closer to sniff out of curiosity and then by the grace of the Gods, they all closed their eyes and pressed their snouts to the open palms of the five before them, Hiccup took a breath of relief as he sighed contently. It worked! "Now you can open your eyes," he said as they all did so and saw the dragons there, accepting them almost. "This is the trust, a physical contact where there is no fear on either side. And for all of you now, all you need to do is remember to hold a respect for them as they do for you. They understand you live on the island they used to, but they also expect the same respect to live there too. Mutual understanding, respect, and trust is the basis of complete peace between dragons and humans." Hiccup smiled.

"It's incredible," Savage said shocked.

"I know. Now that we have all that covered-we can work on how to handle raids." Hiccup chuckled as they quickly looked at him blinking.

"Wait, how are you gonna show us that if you don't get raids here?" Gobber asked.

"You'll find my husband is incredibly crafty," Astrid mentioned with a giggle then winced a bit with her hands on her stomach.

"I thought you loved that about me?" Hiccup questioned her now.

"I love many things about you. It would take a lifetime to name them all," Astrid smiled at him. Hiccup crouched before her and held her hand-the left with his own.

"Good thing we have a lifetime together then," Hiccup leaned in and kissed her deeply. Astrid blushed deeply but kissed him back, the others just kind of smiled as the two young lovers broke the kiss and stared into each others eyes.

"The most attractive thing about you is that you finally found who you really are," Astrid stroked his cheek slightly.

"And I couldn't have done it without you," Hiccup replied pressing his forehead to hers. Astrid and Hiccup smiled at one another before Astrid winced again. "You alright?"

"Yeah...I'm fi-Ow!" she said quickly as Hiccup's eyes slowly filled with some concern.

"Babe?" Hiccup asked softly. Astrid cringed now, panting a bit. "Hey. Talk to me, what's wrong?" he asked her.

"Baby is...just kicking a lot. I'm okay...really...I...am..." Astrid forced out holding her belly now, whimpering some.

"I'm not convinced, Love. Come on, we'll go see Eydis..." Hiccup offered gently holding her hand still to help her up, Stormfly squawked worried for her rider. "See, even Stormfly is worried..." he added.

"Okay, fine. You win...We'll go see the he-" she stopped short as her eye widened with a fear rising fast as she looked between her legs, Hiccup looked too and saw the wetness moving down Astrid's leggings as he looked back at her.

"Babe...did your...just-" Astrid only nodded cutting him off. Hiccup wasted no time lifted her into his arms as he gave a whistle to Stormfly who stood and crouched for him to get on. Viggo and Ryker helped him up since he was carrying Astrid. "Lead them back to the village. Her water just broke, we're flying ahead. Go, Stormfly! Go girl!" Hiccup commanded. Stormfly stood and beat her wings to get into the air as Astrid was crying some from the pain, they were gone seconds later over the trees leaving the other chieftains and extras in shock.

"He can...ride a dragon?!" Dagur exclaimed.

"Yes, and the only one on the island who can. Let's move along now-the chief and chieftess are about to be very busy." Viggo instructed firmly, not having much choice-they followed the two guards and moved through the forest back to the village. Upon arriving, they were taken right to the caves again as Viggo and Ryker rushed off to see if they could help their chief. The others had a lot of questions but knew now was not the time to ask them given the chief's wife just went into labor and a few weeks early at that. The chief was sure to be worried enough-busy at that just as Viggo and Ryker had said to them. All they could do now was just wait for news on the birth of the little one-Gobber more worried than anyone because he knew the truth. Hiccup and Astrid were alive and living on this island as the chief and chieftess, now about to have their first child together. Gobber only hoped everything would be alright.


	14. Chapter 14

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 14**

~Normal POV~

The whole village was in a stir of what was going on when they saw Stormfly zip though with Hiccup and Astrid on her back when they were told no dragon riding due to the outsiders being there-but it was also known that if their chief was breaking his own rule right now then something had to be wrong. They saw him land Stormfly outside of Eydis's house as Hiccup carried his whimpering wife inside quickly. Twenty minutes later, Viggo and Ryker rushed up to her house to keep people back, then Viggo went inside to see that Hiccup was holding his wife's hand while Eydis was checking her.

"Chief, what's going on?" Viggo asked quickly.

"Astrid is in labor and will likely be giving birth before the night is over. Were the others taken to their stay areas?" Hiccup asked while paying attention to his wife.

"Yes, back to the caves. Also, they questioned why you rode a dragon and we told them you're the only one who does. Ryker is keeping the others back, what would you like us to do?" Viggo inquired.

"Just have them get back to work, tell Eret to keep an eye on the boys too. If anyone asks then tell them that the Heir will be born soon." Hiccup told him. "Oh! And make sure someone is keeping an eye on the extras. I don't want them wandering freely," he added quickly afterwards. The last thing he needed was the chieftains, their children, or guards wandering his island and figuring out about the dragon riding. That was all he needed right now.

"Yes sir." Viggo nodded as he then exited the house leaving Hiccup with Astrid alone since they clearly were going to have a long afternoon and possibly-long night as well depending on how Astrid's labor progressed. Hiccup turned his attention back to his wife who was trying her best to breathe through the pain but it was hard to do, Hiccup couldn't do much for her other than hold her hand and tell her that it would all be worth it when they were holding their child. Maybe he could take her mind off it for a bit, they still hadn't decided a name-would that distract her? Turning his attention to his whimpering wife, he kissed her cheek softly.

"Hey...we haven't thought of a name yet, guess we're gonna need it sooner than we assumed." Hiccup chuckled a bit.

"Is this...really the best...time to be...thinking about this?" Astrid moved her head to look at him slowly.

"Well, the baby will need a name will he or she not?" Hiccup reasoned slightly.

"I suppose you're right.," Astrid replied now as she closed her eyes and tried to relax. The pains were coming every ten or so minutes and Eydis confirmed that Astrid was dilating slowly-but wasn't sure how long until it would be time to push. "What name...should we use for a boy?" she inquired when some of the pain passed.

"What about...Destin?" Hiccup offered, "I believe it means Determination in old Norse?" he added on.

"I...li-like it." Astrid panted some as Hiccup got her a cup of water since her voice sounded a bit raspy as if she had a dry throat and mouth.

"What do you like for a girl?" Hiccup asked gently with a smile.

"I'm stuck between...ow, Milla or Signy..." Astrid held her stomach a bit.

"I personally like Milla better," Hiccup wiped her forehead free of sweat.

"Then we can...use Milla for a girl's name," Astrid managed a smile to him, they shared a kiss as she continued to try and relax as the labor continued.

(Outside)

"What's going on?" someone demanded.

"What is wrong with our chieftess?" another asked.

"Everyone please settle down and I will tell you what is happening," Viggo said with his arms raised up to calm them-even the chieftains and their extras were out and listening as well. "Now then, just half an hour ago. Our chieftess went into labor early with her water breaking. The chief is with her and hopefully soon, the Heir to the island and Tribe will born. The chief asks not to be disturbed as there is enough worry resting with him that Alva is a few weeks early. He says for everyone to get back to work and as soon as there is news to update you all with-he'll let you know." the man added calmly.

"Mom is in labor?" Hagen asked.

"Yes, but she's alright. Your father and Eydis are with her right now, it will be just fine." Ryker assured elder of the two twins. "Eret will be watching you two as we don't know when the birth will be taking place,"

"Okay." Hagen and Tore nodded to him as Eret came over with a smile and led them away. The rest of the village began to split off and return to their jobs before the sun would set and it would be time for dinner. The time now was about 2:25pm, still three or so hours until dinner time and much more harvesting, fishing, hunting, or cleaning to be done.

"Can we assist at all?" Gobber suddenly asked stepping towards Viggo.

"Yes, anything at all we can do?" Camicazi nodded agree to wanting to help too.

"Well, I suppose you could help out around the village if you desire so. Come, we can find jobs to keep you busy for now." Viggo offered-it would be the best way to keep them out of trouble and keep an eye on them as Hiccup had wanted.

(Hours Later; 9:30pm)

Most children were all in bed now, not sleeping but winding down and relaxing to sleep for 10pm. All families and village goers had eaten, cleaned up and were also relaxing-however, all were listening to the obvious painful screams emitting from their chieftess who was giving birth to the Heir to the island. It had been a long night thus far, they knew their chieftess had been in labor since 2pm and it was now 9:30pm, that was seven and a half hours of pain she was in and she'd been pushing for the last fifteen minutes. Finally, the screaming stopped as everyone listened in close-then...a loud cry filled the air and everyone held their breath. Hiccup would announce it being the chief, that's what they were waiting for. Ten minutes later, the door to Eydis's hut opened as Hiccup stepped out.

"Gather round Skywingers!" he called out. In a rush, everyone emerged from their homes and made it forward to see him standing on the ground with a wide smile, Hagen and Tore escorted to the front by Eret. "I'm pleased to inform you all that the Cloud Rider Isle Heir has been born!" the village burst into applause at the announcement.

"How is the chieftess?"

"Is the baby boy or girl?"

"What's his or her name?"

"Can we see Mom?" that was from Hagen and Tore.

"Alright, calm down." Hiccup smiled with his hands up to settle them, "Our chieftess is perfect, just tired and feeding the little one. The baby is a girl, and will be known as Milla Olovsan. And you boys can see her right after she's done feeding Milla." he stated in order of the questions asked. They understood why Hiccup used his other last name, because of the fact his father was currently on the island and the caves were close enough to hear the announcement. It didn't matter, they knew the truth. The Tribe had a new member, and the island had an Heir: Milla Haddock.

"When can we see the little one?" asked Anya curiously.

"Probably not until tomorrow, it's been quite a night for everyone. So here's what we'll do, tomorrow-I want everyone to meet up in the celebration hall for dinner. Viggo, I trust you can handle everything for that?" Hiccup asked, Viggo nodded with a smile to him. "Ryker, you can bring the chieftains and their extras as well. Eret, would you mind terribly continuing to watch the boys?"

"Not at all, chief." Eret replied.

"Thank you. It's late and almost quiet hours, so let's all move back to our houses to get some sleep." Hiccup told them.

"Yes chief! Night and give Alva our love and congratulations!" someone called to him, Hiccup nodded as everyone began to disperse and return to their homes to get some sleep-all in joy of the announcement that Astrid had given birth to a little girl and she was the Heir. Eret brought Tore and Hagen up the few stairs to Eydis's hut so he could hug them.

"Hiccup, you can bring them in now..." he heard Astrid say softly.

"Be easy now boys. Mom is sore and your baby sister is very little, likely to be sleeping too." Hiccup warned them gently, they nodded as they took their father's hand after he opened the door, then led them in quietly.

"There's my boys," Astrid smiled as Tore and Hagen saw her sitting up on the bed holding a small bundle in her arms wrapped in warm furs. "Come meet your little sister," she invited as they got closer and looked over to see the little girl sleeping in their mother's arms. "This is Milla," she introduced.

"She's so tiny," Tore smiled some, he carefully hugged his mother and then Hagen did the same.

"Yes she is, because she's a few weeks early but no worries. She feeds well and will put that weight on in no time," Eydis informed from the chair she was sitting in.

"Can we hold her tomorrow?" Hagen inquired.

"I don't see why not." Hiccup nodded, "You two finish your chores today?"

"Yes, Dad." they both nodded still admiring their baby sister, Milla. After fifteen minutes of the family bonding time, Hiccup sent them out with Eret because they were yawning tiredly, so was Astrid.

"Sweet dreams boys. We love you," Astrid told them.

"Night Mom and Dad. Love you too!" the boys replied as they were out the door with Eret and moving towards the Haddock house to get some sleep for the night. Hiccup helped Astrid place Milla in the small cradle beside her bed as he pulled over a second bed and put it next to Astrid's, lying down and pulling his wife close to him.

"I love you, Astrid." he whispered gently after kissing her.

"I love you too, Hiccup." Astrid replied as the two relaxed and soon fell fast asleep there-this ended their night and tomorrow was sure to be just as busy and fun with the celebration of Milla being born and the her being the Heir of the Tribe and Island.

(Next Night-Celebration Hall)

Everyone had gathered there, bringing foods and gifts for little Milla. Viggo took care of preparing the hall and having it decorated, Ryker rounded up the chieftains and their extras to the hall as well. Hagen and Tore made sure to finish their chores fast and efficiently, the rest of the Tribe had just arrived-including Eydis who said the chief and chieftess were on their way, that they wanted to stop home and freshen up first. This was going to be a fun-it was a big event for the island. Hiccup and Astrid reached the doors, she was holding onto him while he held Milla in his left arm. Astrid opened the door and they both walked in as it fell quiet but smiles all around. They made their way to the front and stood on the small heightened area.

"Thank you all for coming," Astrid began gently as Hiccup gave the motion for them to go ahead and sit down.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world, chieftess Alva. How are you feeling?" asked Frida-Albin's wife and mother of Edvin and Cecile.

"A bit sore but fine others wise, thank you, Frida." Astrid smiled as Viggo pulled her chair out for her so she could sit down.

"Last night, a little girl was born. She's the daughter to the chief and chieftess, baby sister to Tore and Hagen-sons of the chief and chieftess. This little girl is the Heir to the Cloud Rider Isle's Skywing Tribe. It is my esteemed pleasure as your chief and this little girl's father to introduce you all to Milla Olovsan." Hiccup announced as he turned slightly so they'd all be able to see Milla in his arms-she was sleeping of course.

"She is precious..." Camicazi smiled widely.

"You and your husband make adorable children, chieftess. We getting anymore?" Stilsta giggled.

"Maybe in a year or so." Astrid smiled, "We enjoy making them," she added as the Tribe chuckled some.

"Uh huh, we all remember the night Milla was conceived. Some of us will never unhear what was heard!" Anya laughed as did others.

"Oh come on, we weren't that loud." Hiccup blinked.

"You were too. For Odin's sake, we thought you broke her because you two didn't leave the house the next morning." Corey snickered.

"I did break her, and she loved every minute of it." Hiccup grinned, effectively shutting his Tribe up. "How do you think I got her pregnant on the first try?" he asked.

"Hedvig!" Astrid squealed in embarrassment.

"What, babe? You know it's true." Hiccup remarked.

"It's been months, how should I remember how much I loved it?" Astrid challenged. Hiccup turned to face her now as her blush intensified after he kissed her deeply.

"I guess I'll have to remind you then..." Hiccup offered as her mouth hung open in surprise.

"Boys, I think you should spend the night at my house..." Eret stated patting their shoulders.

"Okay, Uncle Eret." they replied-not really sure what was going on or if they wanted to know.

"You're terrible," Astrid huffed.

"And you knew that when you married me, so you're stuck with me until we die." Hiccup retorted.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Astrid smiled as they kissed again and she took Milla from him.

"Hey, I was holding her..." Hiccup frowned some.

"And it's almost time for her to feed. Pretty sure you don't produce the milk from your chest," Astrid giggled a bit.

"She's got you there, chief." Viggo chuckled.

"I get her afterwards," Hiccup mentioned as Astrid nodded, "In the meantime, everyone enjoy dinner!" he announced to Tribe and others there. Within fifteen minutes, Milla's cry came and Astrid was ready to feed her, Eydis draped a blanket over Astrid to shield her from the others while she fed Milla and ate her dinner in the process as did Hiccup, Tore, and Hagen. The room was engaging in soft conversation about their day, and the excitement of Milla being born. When Milla was done feeding, Astrid burped her and fixed her shirt then removed the blanket.

"Can we hold her, Mom?" Hagen asked now.

"I don't see why not. Love, have them sit in your chair-it's got the arms on it." Astrid told him, Hiccup nodded as he led the boys to his chief chair and they sat in it smiling. The chair was actually a birthday gift for him from the Tribe when he turned twenty. Hiccup took Milla from Astrid so she could keep eating while he had the boys adjust their arms to hold Milla the right way. When they were set, Hiccup placed their sister in their arms and stepped back but not too far away.

"Does she always sleep?" Tore asked.

"Right now while she's so little, yes. Don't worry, she'll grow with time." Hiccup told them. For about ten minutes, Tore was holding her in his arms, then Hiccup adjusted her so Hagen had a turn. Another ten minutes passed before Milla began to wriggle some and wake up whimpering. Hiccup took her gently and soothed her, "Ssh now, it's alright." Milla relaxed in his arms and opened her eyes, this is when Hiccup could see that she had green-blue eyes, a perfect mix of his and Astrid's eyes, she also had light brown hair with her mother's nose but father's ears. Milla was the perfect combination of them without a doubt.

"Hedvig, can I see her? Please?" Camicazi asked gently, Hiccup moved over towards the table where the chieftains were with their guards, or children. Hiccup knelt down some and let her get a better look, "She's so small,"

"Born four week early will do that to a baby," Hiccup stated.

"But she's absolutely adorable too," Heather chimed in smiling.

"Thank you," Hiccup smiled, obviously being the proud father he was. For the next thirty minutes, Hiccup brought Milla around the table for the others to see her better, each offering a compliment of how beautiful she was and would send gifts for the new Heir-Hiccup reminded them several times that it wasn't necessary. A few hours passed as the time came for Milla to be fed again so Hiccup handed the young one over to her mother so he could hang with the boys, not wanting them to feel like he was ignoring them.

Gobber just watched quietly as Hiccup rolled played with the boys, they were working on sword techniques-Hiccup showing then proper ways to hold it, using for offense and defense. Gobber knew for a fact that this was Hiccup, there was no way he wasn't. Gobber knew the boy he raised, the boy who had become a man, a husband, father, and even chief of his own island that had peace with dragons. Gobber couldn't hold his tongue, he had to confront Hiccup about who he was, he had to know for sure and he was finding out tonight.

The hours continued to tick by and the party went on until late hours around 9:30pm when parents began insisting their children get some sleep so they left with their families. Astrid finished feeding Milla then she yawned as well and Hiccup smiled. "Time to get some sleep, Milady," Hiccup told her as she didn't argue. "Boys, time to head home with your mother. I'm gonna go on patrol with Viggo and Ryker."

"Yes father," Hagen said as Tore nodded to him-they moved with their mother back to the house. Gobber continued to watch, how was he going to get Hiccup alone to talk to him. Blacksmith talk ought to gain his interest, Hiccup loved being in the forge on Berk.

"Shall we take the chieftains and their extras back to the caves, chief?" Ryker asked him.

"Please if you wouldn't mind. Tomorrow ladies and gentleman, we'll be working on training you your own Terrible Terror as a messenger," he informed calmly.

"Sounds like fun." Heather beamed brightly.

"You think that, only because you don't know how hard it is to train a small lizard with wings that has the attention span of a sparrow." Hiccup chuckled some.

"Oh goodie," Dagur mumbled a bit. Ryker motioned for them to follow him. This was Gobber's chance, he moved towards Hiccup now.

"Gobber, what are you doing?" Stoick inquired, Hiccup glanced over to his old mentor now.

"I was...just going to ask the chief if I could talk to him about his forge skills. I've been eyeing his shield for an hour and really curious about it." Gobber mentioned.

"My shield? I guess it is pretty cool. I don't mind if he tags along, I'll bring him back to you." Hiccup shrugged some.

"Orders sir?" Viggo asked.

"Viggo take the North side of the island, Eret the West, Ryker can take South after he takes them to their stay areas, and I'll take East side. Reports in the village square when you're done," Hiccup ordered.

"Yes chief!" they replied and headed off to their respected orders, Hiccup motioned for Gobber to follow him. For twenty minutes, there was silence between them until Gobber sighed.

"We're alone now, lad. You don't have to hide with me," Gobber said gently. Hiccup didn't flinch or reply at first.

"I assure you, I have no idea what you're-" he was cut off when he felt Gobber's hand on his shoulder.

"Hiccup." Gobber said now as Hiccup stopped with his head down. "It is you, isn't it lad?" he asked while Hiccup lowered his head with a heavy sigh. So Gobber figured out it was him, Hiccup shouldn't have suspected any less. The man raised him since he was five years old. It would only make sense Gobber could see through the disguise he wore to keep his identity a secret and now Gobber knew so what did he do now? Tell him the truth, that seemed to be his only choice. Hiccup couldn't lie to Gobber, he just couldn't. Hiccup simply nodded to the man, confirming he was indeed Hiccup.


	15. Chapter 15

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 15**

~Hiccup's POV~

It should not have surprised me in the least when Gobber asked me if he could talk to me about my shield, it was too out of the blue to be a random topic at 10pm at night when I was about to go on patrol with Viggo, Eret, and Ryker. Something in my gut had told me: _he knows something_. So I just played along while we walked and then of course when we were far enough away to not be heard by anything, he made his stance known by saying we were alone and I didn't have to hide with him, I tried to play it off that I didn't know what he was talking about-but of course, Gobber knew better and that's why he cut me off and called me Hiccup. Then proceeded to ask it if was really me, I did the only thing I could do. I lowered my head slowly, and nodded to him to confirm his question. How could I of lied to him? Gobber practically raised me in my own father's absence due to him always being too busy for me.

I found myself wondering how it was he put it together to figure out it was me under the black hair disguise, I glanced up to see his face: shock-but overjoy filled his eyes. I after all, had been gone three years and Astrid with me-I had to safely assume that Gobber knew 'Alva' was Astrid too. "I never could hide from you, Gobber. Sad my own father hasn't made the connection yet. What gave me away?" I asked him.

"Few things actually. When we started trainin', you used my line: learnin' on the job. Also when Stormfly licked your face, I saw the scar. I know your green eyes and messy hair anywhere, 'Iccup. The black hair, it's just a cover up-isn't it?" Gobber asked.

"Yeah...Astrid made it for us so no one would question who we were," I admitted to him.

"And Astrid is...?" Gobber arched a brow.

"Back at the house with the kids right now. I...assume you want some kind of explanation and you're...likely going to tell my father, aren't you?" I sighed.

"I want to see the both of ya," Gobber informed firmly. I nodded to him as I completed my patrol with him-it wasn't hard to do, all I did was climb the watch tower where the Terrible Terror was and looked around the Eastern side of the island. Giving it a nod of approval, I got down and returned to the village square where Viggo, Eret, and Ryker were waiting for me. "Reports?"

"All clear on West, North, and South my chief." Viggo offered a slight bow.

"Very good then. Head on home and get some rest boys. See you in the morning," I told them, they nodded and headed off to their homes while I took Gobber to my house and walked in to see Astrid sitting on the couch with Milla laying on some skins and sleeping peacefully. "I'm home babe," I said first, then Gobber came in behind me and she stood up quickly, "It's okay, relax. He knows, Astrid." her eyes widened a bit.

"H-How?" Astrid questioned as I shut the door tightly but not loud so I didn't wake up Milla or the boys-who were upstairs.

~Normal POV~

"I practically raised the lad. He used a line on us that I used on you kids when you were in dragon trainin'." Gobber remarked calmly. Astrid sighed some looking at him, "I'm glad to see you're both okay. And now I want to know everything, understand. I won't tell your father, Hiccup. Or your parents, Astrid. I can see why you two never returned now-you have an island, Tribe, and family of your own."

"You're...really not going to tell them?" Astrid asked.

"It's not my place to do so. You're both adults now, and we couldn't make ya come back if we wanted to. You were runaways from Berk while under eighteen still-and in viking laws, given you were still gone after eighteen, we can't force you to come back. Hiccup here is chief of this island which...I assume was uninhabited by humans when you got here and claimed it as Cloud Rider Isle. You two are married, with two adopted sons and now a blood daughter. You have a village, and Tribe. Everyone knows you as Hedvig and Alva, and I can't reveal information about another chief-some old law." Gobber informed. "You can take off your disguises too. I'd like to get a good look at what three years did you you both,"

"You go wash up first, babe." Hiccup offered, she nodded and headed to the small washroom downstairs to rinse her hair out.

"Safe to assume you won't ever tell your father it's you, will ya lad?" Gobber inquired.

"You were listening on the ship ride here, Gobber...I don't care what he says, he wouldn't accept this about me. That I ran away with Astrid, claimed this island as Cloud Rider Isle, started building a home for us, and gained a Tribe by others who wanted a fresh start too. Our Tribe might be small-but we have something no other Tribe in the Archipelago has, we have peace with dragons. He wouldn't accept me being a...well, dragon training for all intensive purposes or that Astrid and I got married when we were nineteen, and have just now had a child. You know him, Gobber...he'd never accept this." Hiccup some.

Astrid came out of the washroom now as Hiccup went in to wash his hair and face while Astrid sat down beside Milla and stroked her soft light brown hair. "There's the Astrid I know," Gobber smiled some.

"We only use it to hide from outsiders. Didn't seem to work on you though," Astrid replied.

"The lad can't hide from me. I raised him, I know those eyes and scar anywhere," Gobber said gently.

"Isn't Stoick going to wonder where you are?" Astrid inquired.

"He thinks I'm with 'Hedvig' on patrol and learning about his shield," Gobber shrugged as five minutes later, Hiccup came back out while drying his hair.

"There's the the young man I raised," Gobber chuckled a bit as Hiccup just sighed.

"So you want to know everything?" Hiccup asked.

"The basics lad. Why'd you leave Berk to find yourself? Why did you say you weren't a dragon killer? When did all this...happen?" Gobber questioned.

"I can't give you that answer, not to the first question. I'm still...discovering myself. You clearly see that I can't kill dragons-there is no reason to when what we have here can be obtained anywhere with just a little patience, respect, trust, and understanding." Hiccup lied. He wouldn't tell Gobber his best friend was a Night Fury he'd shot down on Berk, or that most of the villager were dragon riders, there were somethings he just couldn't tell Gobber.

"Fair enough, seems like you're doing pretty well here though. Chief, husband, father..." Gobber mentioned. "How did it all start?"

"Well. It was the night that Astrid found out about the contract, the one before I was supposed to kill the Nightmare. I knew I couldn't do it and Astrid didn't want to marry Snotlout. I told her I was leaving and told her to come with me and we could just...get away from everything, everyone and start over with our own lives in a place where no one could tell us how to live our lives or expect us to become anything. That night at midnight we took a ship and sailed Southwest of Berk, wanting to avoid the heavier viking inhabited islands." Hiccup began.

"That contract was neva meant to happen, lass. In truth because Hiccup is son of Stoick-who is chief of the Tribe, Hiccup had first pick in bride before anyone else did. As soon as Stoick found out, he informed yer parents about it and they felt horrible for forgetting the new laws that Heir got to select who he wanted to rule beside him when he became chief himself. If you two had stayed, you would have learned that..." Gobber explained.

"Wouldn't have mattered because if we stayed I still would have had to kill a dragon that I couldn't kill." Hiccup sighed some.

"True. Alright then, continue?" Gobber asked.

"We traveled about two months, got stuck in some storms before reaching here. Of course we had nothing to build with as far as tools or materials and so we sailed to Bog Isle but the ship was destroyed just before we reached shore. We washed up on the beach and the guards took us to Bertha's house. We gave her a story about being sent off our island for being runts under the names Hedvig Olovsan and Alva Vintmar-they, as in Camicazi and Bertha bought it. She said we if we were willing to work she would supply us the materials we needed and a ship to return to the island we made our own." Astrid said now so Hiccup could get a drink of water.

"We left in the middle of the night so they couldn't follow us. Once we got here again, we started building. It took about 6 months just to do this house, the barn, fields, and my forge. Then over another six months as we had turned nineteen-we gathered all the Tribe members we have now, the twins were last. They were sent of Murderus after the mother gave her life to save them. Madguts killed her, and we found them washed up on our beach-took them in as our own children. We adopted them as our children, they use Olovsan with outsiders but they are adopted as Haddock." Hiccup continued to explain to Gobber.

"A month after getting Tore and Hagen settled in here, Hiccup proposed to me and of course I said yes. We were married two months later after gaining both Eydis as our healer and Hella as our Tribe elder-she's...kind'a like Gothi in a way only she isn't silent but she does all the same things. We...consummated our marriage obviously, and six weeks after the wedding I found out I was pregnant. Over the time of being pregnant, the boys turned ten years old and we turned twenty. We've been married for eight months now, and together as a couple for three years. That's...everything, I think." Astrid finished gently.

"Huh. Married eight months you say?" Gobber asked as they nodded. "Stoick and Inga have been married the same amount," he added.

"Wait, who is Inga?" Astrid questioned.

"Oh right, I didn't tell you because you were pregnant and I didn't wanna stress you out. My father apparently got remarried and is expecting a child in four months. A new Heir to Berk, in order to replace me since I left and have thus far not returned." Hiccup told her.

"Wow, you're dad is remarried and expecting another child-this means that...this child would be," she began.

"Hiccup's half sibling. Inga has another child too-a son named Casper, I believe he's thirteen and lives with his father on Hysteria Island. She had a daughter but I guess the lass didn't survive to her first birthday due to illness". Gobber explained.

"And...how are my parents?" Astrid asked hesitantly.

"They miss ya a lot lass. Many in the village believe yew two are dead but Gothi confirmed for me, yer parents, and the chief that you two are very much alive but she couldn't tell us where you two were. Something about messing with the fates if she gave the answer. All she gave us were that yew two were happy together and paths would cross when the time." Gobber enlightened. Astrid looked down a bit, she did miss them but the hassle it would bring to reveal herself-also explain to them she was married behind their backs and had a daughter of her own.

"I still can't believe my dad remarried and I'm going to have a half sibling in four months..." Hiccup sighed some.

"Yep, her name originally was Inga Amonsev, now Inga Haddock-chieftess of Berk and carrying the next Heir, well, unless you decide to come back." Gobber stated.

"You know I can't, Gobber. I'm chief of my own island and Tribe with a wife, and three children. Even if he knew who I was, I can never come back as Berk's Heir. And I told you...he won't accept me this way. He won't accept the things I've done since leaving. You know him, Gobber. He's your best friend-and he is stubborn and set in his ways." Hiccup looked down with closed eyes.

"I know lad-but that is something you would have to explain to him. At least let him know you're here, even if he doesn't accept it. He'd know you're alive and you're happy. But you shouldn't be lying to his face about the who the chief of this island is..." Gobber put a hand on his shoulder. "I won't make you, and I won't tell him or your parents, Astrid...but the both of you should. It's getting late, I should be getting back to Stoick now before he thinks something is up. We've really missed you, Hiccup, and you too, Astrid. At least consider it before we leave,"

"I'll consider it-that is all I can give you for now. Can you find your way back?" Hiccup asked.

"I can. See you tomorrow?" Gobber asked.

"As Hedvig, you will. Goodnight, Gobber." Hiccup gave a nod of his head, Gobber sighed some as he left the house and returned to the caves. Hiccup plopped down on the couch now as Astrid rubbed his shoulder. "I wish it didn't hurt so much,"

"What hurts?" Astrid asked softly. Hiccup sighed as he began to explain the conversation with Stoick on the ship when they were sailing back to Cloud Rider Isle, how his father just wanted him home and would accept him no matter what-but of course, Hiccup knew better than to trust that word. Even Gobber couldn't deny knowing Stoick would flip out finding out Hiccup was chief of Cloud Rider Isle, married to Astrid with two adopted sons and now little Milla who had just been born yesterday. Hiccup admitted to his wife that he hated knowing his father says he would accept him but in truth, he wouldn't-and that is what hurt the most about revealing himself. He knew he wouldn't be accepted or loved by his father when the man discovered that Hiccup had trained a Night Fury and rode it.

"We aren't going to tell them, are we?" Astrid asked.

"I don't want to tell them, no. There's just too much we've worked for here, and telling my father who we are would just...ruin that. It could start fighting, wars even, Astrid. We can't risk our family, Tribe, or dragons." Hiccup sighed out.

"I agree. Berk is our old life, babe. I know we'll likely have to go there from time to time but we'll just put on the disguises and act as chief Hedvig and chieftess Alva Olovsan if Cloud Rider Isle, home of the Skywing Tribe." Astrid said rubbing his back some. "You think Gobber would tell them?" she inquired.

"No. Gobber is a man of his word, he won't tell my dad or your parents about anything," Hiccup affirmed with a nod.

"Take tomorrow to train their Terrible Terrors-then send them off our island so we can go back to having normal lives with our dragons again. I know Toothless misses flying and now that I'm not pregnant, I miss flying Stormfly!" Astrid giggled a bit.

"Done and done, Milady. Let's get some sleep, it's been a long night." Hiccup said as he got up, carefully lifted Milla as Astrid stood beside him and they moved upstairs to their room. Hiccup went down quickly after laying down their daughter in her cradle to lock the door to their house and say goodnight to Toothless and Stormfly who were now inside and resting in their indoor stables for the night. Hiccup moved back upstairs for the second time and laid in bed with his wife, he held her close as they shared a loving kiss and soon fell to sleep.

(A Few Days Later)

Training the Terrible Terrors was easy enough, but getting the chieftains to agree to use them as messengers was a task. Hiccup settled on making it known that it would be easier and faster to get messages to him or each other if they used the dragons. However, Hiccup was only training the chieftains and not the extras. So Hiccup was now training eight Terrible Terrors for them, and trying to cover weeks on training into just a few weeks was no easy feat. As with any dragon training, the chieftains had to earn the Terror's trust first, then name them and the Terrors had to recognize the faces of each chieftain by name too. The next step once all the Terros understood names and faces to those names-it was teaching them islands and directions. Hiccup handled most of this himself but the others watched curiously.

How Hiccup did this was use his map of the Archipelago. Every island marked with a name-Hiccup would work with each Terror, showing them by picture what island was where and then the leader of that island. The dragons flew so it made sense to use a sky view which is how he drew it originally. This made teaching the Terrors easier, they just needed a direction, name, and island to fly too. It was fun watching this play out when he tested them all by having the chieftains scatter on the island and then they would send their Terrors to someone else by name, then they all had to flock to Hiccup before everyone returned to one spot.

"So that's it? They are trained, just like that?" Dagur asked now.

"Yeah, that's it. These guys and girls will fly wherever you tell them too." Hiccup stated.

"It's incredible alright-such talent and skill you possess, chief Hedvig." smiled Mogadon.

"I tell him all that all the time," Astrid beamed as she walked over with the boys and Milla laying in the sash around her shoulder.

"What brings you out this way," Hiccup greeted as he kissed her gently, ruffled his twins's hair, then kissed Milla's forehead.

"Boys finished their work, Milla was getting fussy so we decided to take a walk." Astrid shrugged as Stormfly was beside her.

"Lucky you, we just finished training ourselves. Meet their Terrors, babe. Five are males, three are females." Hiccup smiled.

"Names for them?" Astrid inquired.

"Of course. Outcast Terror is male by the name of Blazer. Bog Terror is female with the name Swifty. Hysteria Terror is female using the name Starsky. Peaceable has a male with the name Speedy. Waterlands has male by the name of Fireball. Berserk has a male with the name Scorcher. Meathead has a female named Quickster. And Berk has a male named Sparkshot." Hiccup motioned to each of them.

"Pleasure to meet you all. I'm Alva, these are my sons: Tore and Hagen, then my daughter: Milla." Astrid smiled-obviously knowing who she was already, they rushed over to lick her face gently and she giggled.

"So are we...leave after this?" Gobber asked.

"It's late, you're welcome to stay another night or leave tonight if you desire." Hiccup said softly.

"We have farther to sail, we will likely leave this evening. Thank you for your hospitality and teachings, Hedvig. We will be in contact soon." Mogadon informed, Hiccup nodded to him as he watched Mogadon, Alvin, Oyvind, Dagur, and Gunvor all leave with their extras and Terrible Terrors.

"We'll sail tomorrow morning," Stoick nodded, Bertha and Asgeir nodded as well.

"Understood, let's get back then, shall we?" Hiccup said as he put his arm around Astrid's waist, Hagen held his hand while Tore held Astrid's and they began making their way back through the forest. When they got back to the village: Alvin, Mogadon, Gunvor, Oyvind, and Dagur were all getting ready while their extras were on the ships. Stoick, Bertha, and Asgeir all began to do the same. The first group which were all headed Northeast towards Meathead. The second group would be going Northeast in the morning-then finally things would be back to normal for Cloud Rider Isle. Hiccup couldn't wait to be able to have things be back to how they should be.

In truth, he hated hiding it all but it was for the better of the Tribe to hide the truth about their island from the others. It would prevent war, and arguments. Hiccup was lucky they accepted this much of dragons in their lives, he wasn't going to push it by showing them the actual training and riding of them. That was too much and a headache he didn't want. Things would be best this way-they had to be.


	16. Chapter 16

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 _ **~Author's Note;** Hello all, here's a new chapter for you to enjoy. By the way, I resubmitted the poll on the top of my page. It's got a few new additions to it so go vote so I know what everyone wants to see next. -Nightstar Fury_

 **Chapter 16**

~Normal POV~

They couldn't believe that it had been four years of marriage already-almost five in a few weeks when they would turn twenty four. That it had been been seven years they had been together and left Berk to start their own lives. It was amazing to say the least, the tribe had even grown a little. Corey and his wife had another child, a son this time. Others from outside the Archipelago had come too, by accident of course but as they had stayed on Cloud Rider Isle-much like everyone else, they loved it and decided to stay. The Tribe now held a total of sixty-four people including Hiccup, Astrid, Tore, Hagen, and little Milla. The island doing better than ever! Hiccup kept everything organized between rules, and methods of doing things. Still the same as before: families would eat alone unless there was a formal celebration. Families would gather a weeks worth of food, and their job would remain to replace what was taken. Guard schedules, and even dragon training classes had been put in place.

Hiccup still had to deal with the other tribes though, he got messages all the time it seemed and he still had to attend the yearly meetings at the other islands. Over the last four years of their marriage when he began going: he'd been to Hysteria, Berserk, and Peaceable. He hadn't yet received word where this years would be-but it was sure to be arriving any day. Trader Johann was still by every month or so, sometimes less than that because the Skywing Tribe had outside Archipelago trading sources. Hiccup didn't leave his island unless he had to, and he made it clear the other Tribes couldn't just come to his place because it made the dragons nervous to trust them regardless of all they went through when they came the first time after the meeting on Meathead. Yes, everything was perfect for them-they wouldn't change what they had unless something better came along.

Hiccup and Astrid were both twenty three years old-but soon to be twenty four, Tore and Hagen were fifteen, and of course Milla was four years old-now wearing her mother's Kransen around her head, she received it when she was a year old. Tore and Hagen wore suits like their father only it was brown leather with their dragon class symbol on the right shoulder pads, they also had swords and shields too. Tore and Hagen were full dragon riders now, Hiccup taught them everything they could know about dragons. Hiccup named Eret leader of the training academy since Ryker was lead guard and Viggo was Hiccup's second in command. Today was one of those stressful days where Hiccup was at the end of his rope with frustration.

The twins were older and causing a lot of trouble, Milla was incredible active, Astrid was sick with a stomach illness, the food stocks were low because the last few storms made it impossible to hunt, harvest, and fish. First it was rain, then a thunderstorm with some flooding, finally it turned to a snowstorm. It took two weeks to get things back to normal and they were still working on repairs and restocking things. Currently Hiccup was helping take counts on animals and foods so far-they were about to take a break so Hiccup could check on Astrid-she'd been sick about four and a half days now, truthfully he was really starting to worry it was something bigger than a stomach illness.

"Alright guys, that's all the fruits and vegetables. Let's take an hour or so break for lunch so I can check on my wife and kids. When we come back we'll do meats and breads," Hiccup told them.

"Aye sir," the men he was working with nodded to him. They closed up the store house and separated off to go to their homes. Hiccup reached his and walked in to see the house a total mess, the boys were running around, Milla was crying on the floor holding a now ripped blanket, Astrid was just sitting on the couch, head in hands and looked like she was crying too.

"What in the name of Odin happened in here?" Hiccup asked.

"They...broke...my...blankey!" Milla whined out.

"They've been off the wall all day, Hiccup...and I just don't have the energy to get up and deal with it." Astrid told him as she wiped her eyes.

"Alright, I got it..." Hiccup said as he picked up Milla first and kissed her cheeks, "It's okay princess. We can fix it," he informed as she sniffled and nodded to him before he put Milla beside Astrid and stood up with a firm look on his face. "BOYS!" he yelled out as Milla covered her ears quickly and Astrid winced a bit. Tore and Hagen stopped instantly and walked slowly before him with their hands at their sides and heads down.

"Ye-Yes, Dad?" they asked.

"What is all this I hear about you two giving your mother a hard time, and ripping your sister's blanket?" Hiccup asked sternly.

"U-um..." they tried.

"I want an answer boys," Hiccup commanded them.

"It was an accident!" Tore admitted quickly.

"Not listening to your mother was an accident? Ripping Milla's blanket? You two know better. Your mother is sick and Milla is just a little girl. I expect you two to be the responsible ones here while I'm away running the village," Hiccup scolded firmly as they flinched.

"We're sorry, Dad..." they lowered their heads again.

"I bet you are. I have enough to worry about right now without knowing my sons aren't acting their ages. Now you two are going to pick up this house, do any dishes, and sweep up. Then you are going to fix your sister's blanket and after dinner you are going to take your baths and go right to bed. Is that understood? Hiccup told them.

"Perfectly," Tore and Hagen nodded.

"Good. Then get to it," he pointed towards the kitchen for them to get started on cleaning up. Hiccup sighed as he now felt Astrid's forehead-she was still pretty warm and looked miserable still. "How are you feeling?" he asked her now.

"Awful. I couldn't hold breakfast down, my body aches, my stomach hurts, my head is pounding from all the things the boys did...I just want to sleep and know I can't because someone has to watch the kids..." Astrid whimpered a bit.

"I'll take the boys with me for the rest of the day. Milla can go see her auntie Anya until dinner so you can get some rest." Hiccup told her.

"Are you sure?" Astrid asked.

"Of course. They won't give me any trouble, and Milla loves Anya." Hiccup chuckled some as he kissed her forehead gently and then moved to the kitchen to start making some lunch for them-he made soup for Astrid with a piece of bread. The rest of them had two fish on sticks each with a cup of milk and piece of bread. Astrid made her way upstairs to rest up while Hiccup took Milla to Anya's house to play while he kept the boys with him as he continued to go over food and supply counts. The boys were bored but it was their punishment for giving their mother a hard time when they knew she was sick.

The day continued as it normally did with Hiccup doing his chiefly duties and the boys staying close to him and very much silent at that too. Hiccup made sure the store and supply sheds were locked up tightly, he checked the feeding stations, and the Terror posts in each direction of the island. Before long, it was sunset-time for everyone to get home with their families or housemates for dinner. While they were walking to the house after picking up Milla from Anya-a light blue, white, and black Terrible Terror flew over to him, Hiccup recognized him to be, Sparkshot-the Terrible Terror used by the Hairy Hooligans of Berk. Hiccup put out his arm as Sparkshot landed there and squawked a bit.

"Hey there, Sparkshot. What you got for me?" Hiccup asked him gently, the dragon held out it's right leg where there was a note attached. Hiccup smiled as he took it off and unrolled the parchment to read over the message. He gave a heavy sigh, the letter he'd been dreading had come. The yearly meeting with the chieftains was being held on Berk of all places-somewhere Hiccup hadn't wanted to go back to.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Tore asked gently.

"Chiefing business, son. Nothing to worry about, let's get home now." Hiccup smiled at them, he took Milla's hand again after stuffing the note in his armor while they continued to walk home. Reaching the door, he paused before opening it. "Quietly enter in case your mother is sleeping. If she is awake, I expect you both to apologize to her for your behavior earlier."

"Yes, father." they nodded as Hiccup opened the door and checked the living room-then looked more ahead to see Astrid in the kitchen working on dinner.

"Welcome home," she greeted gently.

"Hello, Milady. How are you feeling after a quiet afternoon to yourself?" Hiccup asked with a smile as he walked over and kissed her lightly. Milla tightly hugged Astrid's legs now as the boys just walked in slow-ashamed and feeling guilty for giving their Mom a hard time earlier when they knew she was sick and their father had asked them to help her out.

"I was able to keep down lunch, and sleep. I actually feel pretty good right now," Astrid smiled to him, he felt her forehead and noticed the fever was gone-he was relieved for that. "And how are you my little angel?" she asked while bending over to pick up Milla.

"Hehe. Auntie Anya and me played hide and seek, tag, and sooo much more!" Milla exclaimed.

"Is that so? Well, sounds like you had a fun day." Astrid smiled to her as she looked at Tore and Hagen now, "How about you two? Have a good day chiefing with your father?" she inquired now.

"Yeah, it was okay..." Hagen mumbled, Hiccup cleared his throat now and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mom, we're really sorry we gave you a hard time earlier..." Tore said now looking down.

"We won't do it again, we promise..." Hagen nodded in agreement. Astrid smiled as she handed Milla to Hiccup and she then pulled the boys into a tight hug, placing a kiss on both of their foreheads.

"I forgive you boys. I know we normally do fun things together during the day but I just haven't been feeling well the last few days. I know it gets boring having to stay here all day to babysit your sister and help me out," Astrid told them.

"We know. We're sorry, Mom. Tomorrow you can rest all day and we'll take care of everything for you, including watching Milla. " the two offered. Hiccup smiled some now as he walked over and rubbed their heads.

"That's very nice of you boys. Why don't you take your sister upstairs for the washroom and you three can get ready for dinner?" Hiccup suggested as he handed Milla to Hagen as they nodded and went upstairs quickly to wash up for dinner. As soon as he heard the door shut he sighed heavily.

"What's wrong, Hiccup?" Astrid asked him now. He reached into his armor and pulled out the letter handing it to her, Astrid now read it over slowly.

 _ **Chief Hedvig,**_

 _ **Greetings. It's that time of year again for the annual meeting regarding raids. This year, it will be hosted on Berk by chief Stoick Haddock in three weeks time. We look forward to seeing you again. -Spitelout Jorgenson; second in command to chief Stoick of Berk.**_

"So it's time for the dragon raid meeting again. And it's on Berk...and as a chief...you have to go, don't you?" Astrid inquired.

"Yeah, I do-but don't want to. Gobber knows who I am and I know he'll push me to to tell my father who I am...just like he has every other year during the meeting," Hiccup sighed.

"Well, just tell him it's better this way. He can't make you, Hiccup and he can't tell them because of that old law or whatever." Astrid offered with a hand on his shoulder.

"That's not the point, Astrid...it's going to Berk itself, we said we'd never go back...for any reason at all." Hiccup mumbled.

"I know that, Hiccup-but what can we do. As long as we live inside the boundary walls of the Archipelago, there are some laws we can't get out of. One of those laws is that ever island and Tribe chief has to attend the meetings. If you want these to stop, you have to tell them the truth about dragons. I know you did a little but you haven't shown them the extent of trusting dragons: bonding, training, riding. If they knew that-the raid meetings would stop because there wouldn't be anymore raids to discuss." Astrid enlightened him.

"It's not that simple, babe. And you know that. I can't just throw it on them about all that-they were hesitant enough about the understanding, trusting, and respecting them. They'd...never accept it. I can't risk the wars, I can't..." Hiccup told her.

"Then we have to continue to put up with the yearly meetings. It'll be quick, they always are. I'll come if you want?" Astrid offered to him.

"And who will watch the kids?" Hiccup arched a brow.

"Can't we just come too? I meant they always say to bring the Heir's or second in commands too?" Tore asked while they were coming down the stairs with Milla.

"Please, Dad. It's been like four years since we went..." Hagen mentioned.

"You mean four years since you took a ship by yourselves?" Hiccup reminded as they chuckled nervously.

"It would be good for them to see things now that they are older, Hiccup. Besides...I'd...like to see my parents, even if they don't know it's really me...please Hiccup? Can't we all go as a family?" Astrid asked him. Hiccup sighed some with softer eyes, he didn't really like the idea of bringing Astrid, the boys, and Milla who had never been off Cloud Rider Isle before. Milla was the spitting image of her mother's face with her father's personality. Milla had a perfect mix of Astrid's and Hiccup's eyes: blue-greenish, and then her hair was a light brownish. How would that work when they put on their disguises of black and brown hair? Could they still pass her off as their child without someone noticed the hair and eyes being a down to the T perfect mix of Hiccup and Astrid?

"Alright, fine...we'll all go. I'll get Eret and Ryker to go with us, Viggo can stay behind to watch the village." Hiccup stated to them.

"I think we should take Viggo and Ryker with us and let Eret watch the island while we're away. Everyone thinks Viggo is your second in command-which he is, also Ryker is the family guard. For ship crew we can use Soren, Magnus, Enok, and Jonas. The rest can stay here under Eret's watchful eye," Astrid suggested to him.

"Yeah, good point. My guess is that this letter was sent a few days ago, and their guess would we'd use the dragons to pull the ship. It should take us about a week to get to Berk, maybe less. Stormfly can pull it, we'll keep Toothless below ship." Hiccup said.

"Can we bring our dragons too, Dad?" Hagen asked curiously.

"My dwagon too, Daddy? Can I bwing Stoney?" Milla beamed.

"Yes they can come but they stay on the ship, understand?" Hiccup ordered. The kids cheered now.

"So when do we leave?" Astrid smiled.

"Well it's in three weeks, it should take us about a week to get there. We can leave in two," Hiccup shrugged some.

"Sounds like a plan," they all said in agreement now. Hiccup nodded, he would tell the others tomorrow morning. He was fully dreading this meeting, completely and honestly he was. Having to be back on Berk after seven years? And all for a meeting that didn't affect him in the slightest. He didn't want to go but as a chief he had to follow some rules and this, as Astrid had said was one of them. The rest of the night they spent eating dinner, getting baths for the kids, then sending them to bed. Hiccup and Astrid stayed up until about 10:30pm before they turned in because Astrid was feeling sick and tired again. That concluded their night, the next two weeks were sure to be busy as hell for them.

(Two Weeks Later)

The day had come for them to sail for Berk. The last two weeks had been nothing but preparation for today's trip, gathering food, weapons, dragons, clothing, and more. They were packed to handle being away from the island for two weeks at the longest. This was to take into account for storms, debates, arguments, catching up, eating, sleeping, sailing time. Hiccup liked to be prepared for anything to happen, it was the only way to always be ready for anything by planning for anything.

"We're ready, chief." Viggo saluted him.

"Good, let's load up then." Hiccup motioned to them.

"You know what I just realized, Hiccup...we're going to be celebrating our birthdays on the ship...and our anniversary on Berk..." Astrid mumbled some as she boarded the ship after the boys and Milla had. Soren, Magnus, Jonas, and Ryker were already on getting the ship ready to leave the docks.

"We'll still celebrate like we do every year, babe. I'm not gonna let some meeting come between us enjoying five years of marriage or seven years of being together," Hiccup informed gently as he kissed her cheek before the board was brought on ship and set down by Viggo. "Set sail for Berk!" he commanded to Magnus, the man who would be steering the ship. Stormfly would take over if the winds changed course. It was going to be a long trip, at least four days-maybe five if the winds didn't stay on their side but with Stormfly's help, and maybe Sharpclaw's, they would reach Berk in record time. He just hoped it would go smoothly and be over soon because he wanted to get back to his island and forget all about this nonsense until next year.


	17. Chapter 17

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 17**

~Normal POV~

As expected, the sailing was easy going and thank the Gods they didn't hit any storms. On day two they had to use Stormfly and Sharpclaw at different times to pull the ship through the winds that had changed to other directions and the dragons helped push through that to stay on course. The boys and Milla were pretty board most of the trip and they spent a lot of time below the ship with Toothless and the other dragons. Tore and Hagen weren't the only two with dragons, Milla had one too actually. It was an unintentional bonding when Milla was two years old, she had wandered off into the forest alone and a young Gronckle kept her safe until Hiccup located her on Toothless about thirty minutes later. Milla had named him Stoney and the two were just about inseparable as like the rest of the family with their dragons.

They were about two hours away from Berk now and everyone just ready to get off the ship and get some sleep, they'd originally left Cloud Rider Isle around 5am to get a good start on the calm seas. They'd passed passed Bog Isle after three days with help from the winds, then they got slightly delayed and behind a full day when the winds changed and they went slightly off course. By dinner of the fifth night at seat they were headed back on track for Berk-now just two hours away.

"Dad, are we there yet?" Hagen whined some.

"I swear to Thor if you ask again, I'm going to ground you. We're two hours away, Hagen. I can't make the ship move any faster. We gotta keep the dragons hidden from this point on or the secret is out." Hiccup sighed some as his sons had asked him the same question about fifteen times in the last hour alone. Hiccup just kept his eyes forward on the path, Astrid was sitting on the deck, by the side with her hands over her stomach. The trip at sea seemed to upset her stomach a lot and she'd thrown up a few times while sailing. In truth, he wasn't feeling so great either-wondering if he'd caught the same thing.

"They are just bored, Love. Try to take...it easy..." Astrid groaned from the side of the ship-hand over her stomach trying not to throw up again. Hiccup frowned going over to her and rubbing her back a little. "Guess I'm not used to being on a ship since we normally fly everywhere..." she mumbled a bit.

"Your stomach should settle once we reach Berk, Milady. In about an hour we'll start doing the hair change and what not," Hiccup informed her as she gave a slight nod with her eyes closed.

"Dad, how come you don't tell them you're well, you?" Tore asked now.

"You see son, the story everyone knows isn't the truth. Your mother and I didn't get sent off our island by the Tribe in order to stop raids. We left our island in the middle of the night with our dragons to start a new life away from killing them. Your mother and I are from Berk. Chief Stoick is actually my father, and I'm his Heir." Hiccup explained, they had never known the story because they were so young when Hiccup and Astrid met them. They knew about the hiding of their identities, but never why it was done.

"Why did you two leave?" Hagen asked now as they both came over and sat down on the ship deck to listen to the story.

"On most viking islands, there is something called dragon training-it's not like ours where we train to ride them. Their training, is to kill them because of the raids. Your mother and I were in dragon training when we were seventeen, and I ended up top of the class. Oh, my father was so proud of me. But in that time, the only reason I got so good was because I had Toothless teaching me all the tricks to subdue dragons without hurting them. Your mother found out about Toothless, and she wanted to help me. Together, we built him a new tail and then started dating after I took her on a flight with him. That was seven years ago." Hiccup stated.

"But that night also, my parents had started a marriage contract with me and someone else in the village who I didn't like at all. I didn't want to marry him because I loved your father-who was chosen to kill his first dragon in the ring and be named a true viking. We decided to runaway on Toothless and Stormfly, and we haven't been back to Berk since. It's the reason we hide ourselves, so they don't know who we really are." Astrid mentioned now.

"Wow," Tore sighed, "and he has no idea it's you?"

"No, he doesn't. Only one person figured out who we were-but he won't say anything. It was that man with the peg leg and hook for an arm. His name is Gobber, he was my blacksmith mentor when I lived on Berk." Hiccup told them.

"And we continue not to tell them because it would start a lot of unwanted problems." Astrid added in.

"Because we ride dragons, and train them?" Hagen inquired.

"That's right. Some minds won't be changed, so it's better not to say anything at all. So when we get to Berk, our dragons stay on the ship. Soren, Magnus, and Jonas will keep an eye on them for us while we're on the island dealing with the meeting. And I expect you both to be on your best behaviors, understand?" Hiccup stated.

"Yes, Dad." they replied and continued to relax, Milla was down below with Ryker and sleeping against Stoney. The rest were on all on deck just continuing to ride out the remainder of the trip into Berk.

(Two Hours Later)

When the ship docked with help from some of the Hairy Hooligans who Hiccup and Astrid recognized right away, they were met by Stoick, Spitelout, and Gobber of course. Here went everything, he already felt Gobber's disapproving stare about the fact Hiccup hadn't told anyone about who he was yet and it had been four years.

"Welcome to Berk, Chief Hedvig. Glad to see you again," Stoick greeted him as he stepped off the ship holding Milla in his arms-she was sucking her thumb and hiding her face in Hiccup's shoulder. Astrid was right behind him, one of the boys on either side of her holding her hands. Viggo and Ryker were behind her.

"You as well, Chief Stoick. Beautiful island you have," Astrid smiled gently.

"Ah, thank you lass. Everyone is gathered in the hall for dinner, would you like to join?" Stoick smiled.

"We ate on the ship-but I'll come greet everyone. It's late and I need to get my daughter to sleep," Hiccup told him, Stoick nodded to him as soon they were all heading towards the hall-Hiccup just wanted to get this over with. Reaching the hall twenty minutes later, Stoick opened the doors.

"Now we're all here," Stoick chuckled. Hiccup looked around, seeing so many familiar faces around him-of the chieftains, and the old Tribe. He wanted to sigh, he wanted to be off Berk-but clearly that wasn't going to happen.

"Ah, Hedvig!" Mogadon got up to greet him, the others weren't far behind either. Hiccup shook all their hands, still holding Milla with the one arm. "Is this the little one?" he asked now motioning to Milla-who hadn't been seen since she was a newborn four years ago.

"Yes, this is Milla." Hiccup replied to them.

"And your boys, they've gotten so big now." Bertha smiled looking at Tore and Hagen.

"Thank you. They are fifteen now, my husband and I just turned twenty four on the sail here." Astrid beamed proudly.

"Hedvig, you haven't met my wife or daughter yet." Stoick said as a woman came over holding the hand of a little girl who was walking beside her. "This is Inga Haddock, and our daughter-Signy Haddock. She's about four months younger than your daughter." the man said with such joy. Hiccup looked at both females: so this was his...step mother and half sibling. "Oh and this is Casper, Inga's son from her previous marriage. He tagged along with Asgeir for the meeting," Stoick added motioning to the seventeen year old male standing beside Inga-he had black hair and brown eyes.

"Pleasure to meet you, chieftess Inga. I'm Hedvig Olovsan, chief of Cloud Rider Isle. This is my wife, Alva. My two sons, Tore and Hagen. Finally my daughter, Milla." Hiccup introduced to Inga.

"Beautiful family you have, chief Hedvig." Inga smiled to him. "It's remarkable a young man like yourself discovered something many of us couldn't see. Your work with the dragons is incredible,"

"Anything to help the cause. It was my husband's and mine's mission to find a way to stop raids and restore peace after being kicked off our former island," Astrid replied now.

"You two have done a marvelous job," Gunvor smiled now. "Stoick, I think now would be a good time to start dinner?"

"Are you joining us, Hedvig?" Dagur asked him.

"I'm afraid not. We just ate on our ship, also my daughter is very tired and my wife was feeling a little ill on the sail over. I think it be best we just get some sleep for the night," Hiccup admitted calmly.

"Ah yes. Uh, Gobber, would you take them to their stay area?" Stoick asked him.

"Righty-o, chief." Gobber smiled as he motioned for them to follow him. As soon as they were clear of the hall and out of earshot, "Feel different to be back on Berk?"

"Not really. Same as always, the disapproving stares of the Tribe glancing at Astrid and I for the things we do with dragons." Hiccup shrugged some.

"Well, we were raised for generations to kill dragons, lad. Four years ago, you changed that." Gobber enlightened him.

"Don't lie to me, Gobber, please. I'm not stupid and you know that. This village, as do the others still kill dragons." Hiccup said, Gobber flinched a bit. "I'll take your hesitation as a yes."

"Don't be that way, you know we don't have a choice sometimes. We still get raids, you didn't teach us how to stop them as you do-which I'd still like to know." Gobber mentioned.

"It is not information I can reveal to people who refuse to change. The only reason I'm here is because of these meetings-which are a complete waste of my time because my island doesn't get raids. I shouldn't be excluded from all this, I come because of old laws saying I have to come." Hiccup retorted now, clearly getting annoyed.

"If you taught us how to stop them, we wouldn't have to kill to keep the village safe." Gobber argued.

"And how can I trust you wouldn't use that information to hurt them? Face it, Gobber. Nothing will change because as you said yourself-you've been killing them for generations. That's your way of life. I taught you how to understand them, gain their trust, and share mutual respect for one another. If you want to learn how to stop raids, learn on your own. I cannot simply give you the answers, it is a lesson one learns on their own as I did." Hiccup stated firmly.

"Hiccup..." Gobber tried.

"Enough. It's bad enough I had to spend my birthday on a ship to come here, now I have to spend my five year wedding anniversary dealing with a matter I care nothing about. As soon as the meeting is over tomorrow, we're leaving back to our island and keeping to ourselves just as we've done the last seven years and won't meet again until the next chieftain meeting." Hiccup told him.

"Why are yew so afraid to tell your father it's you under there!" Gobber sighed heavily.

"Because it doesn't matter, Gobber. For Thor's sake-even standing two feet in front of me, he doesn't know I'm his son. If he cared like he claimed to-then he'd know me anywhere. I'm not even wearing the cover up on my chin-the scar is in plain sight, my green eyes are still here. The only thing different is the hair and he still doesn't know it's me. Milla is the spitting image of Astrid and I and he can't make the connection. Just like I said four years ago...it's sad my own father can't even recognize me when I'm right in front of him." Hiccup said quickly taking Gobber by surprise.

"Hiccup, you're hiding. You can't. You're the Heir to Berk! He deserves to know his only child is alive and-"

"NO!" he yelled-but not loud enough to catch anyone's attention. "He has Signy now, that's why he got remarried right? To have another Heir because I was gone. That wasn't a marriage out of love, it was one of convenience. Now I am done talking about this. If the fates wanted him to know about me, then he'd recognize me on his own and he doesn't so I'm not going to change that just because you think I should. I left this place, I never planned on coming back. I have my own life with a wife and three children, I will not show him who I am and reclaim my title as his Heir. It wouldn't take a miracle to get me to agree to live in a place that still kills dragons when I've given them everything they need to create peace!" Hiccup growled out.

"We aren't you! You're different, Hiccup. You always have been! We'd change if you showed us how!" Gobber tried again.

"You'll never change! You never have, Stoick hates change. He hates dragons because my mom was taken by one-that will never change, he'll always have that grudge against them. I showed you the peace that was possible and you still kill dragons. And do you want to know why? Because you CHOOSE to kill them. It's a choice, Gobber. You made yours, and I have made mine." Astrid, Hagen, Tore, Viggo, and Ryker were quiet-no one liked Hiccup angry. Milla was still in his arms as Gobber looked almost in shock that Hiccup had yelled at him. "For the last time. It has been a long night, my family and I are tired-we'd like to go to sleep. Tomorrow, I will attend the meeting-get it out of my way, and then leave for my island again. I have no interest in being a part of the chieftain circle. I just want to live my life in peace, the life I built. Don't worry about the stay area, we'll stay on our ship. Good evening." Hiccup said firmly before turning and heading down to the docks with Astrid, the boys, Viggo, and Ryker. Gobber only stared, shocked at what was said.

Reaching the ship, they all went below as Hiccup carefully placed Milla down on her bedroll-covered her up, kissing her forehead and stepping back to lay against Toothless with his eyes closed. "Hiccup, are you okay?" Astrid asked gently.

"I told you this was a bad idea. I told you he would start with me and I just wasn't having it." Hiccup remarked.

"I know, babe." Astrid looked down some, Hiccup sighed.

"I'm not mad at you, at anyone. I just want to get this meeting over with, and go back home." Hiccup stated to her. "Everyone get some rest," he added.

"Yes chief." the ship crew, Viggo, and Ryker responded.

"Let's get to bed boys," Astrid urged the boys, they went to lay against their dragons and relaxed. Hiccup adjusted so Astrid could lay on him and that was it for the rest of the night.

(Next Afternoon)

Hiccup woke up that morning feeling miserable and sick as ever. Shockingly, he was the last to wake up at 10am after going to bed at 9:30pm. The only reason he woke up was because he heard Milla crying on the main deck and the boys trying to ssh her and apologize before their mother came over to ask what happened. Turned out they were playing tag and Milla tripped when they were supposed to be walking on the ship deck and not running. Milla ended up scraping her knee some-which Hiccup took care of. They all had breakfast-but Hiccup had trouble keeping it down-of course they all asked if he was okay and he responded fine just lacking sleep and was stressed out. Around 11am, Spitelout came by to tell them the meeting would start in two hours at 1:30pm in the Great Hall. Wives, Heir's, and Second in commands were welcome to join in.

"Hiccup, are you sure you're okay? You look really pale," Astrid asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he responded to her with a smile-but in truth he felt horrible. His stomach was in knots, his body and head aching, he felt tired, weak, and like he was going to throw up, however he hadn't just yet-he was managing to keep it down.

"Orders for us sir?" Ryker inquired seeing his chief, brother, chieftess, and the Heir's were all about to leave.

"Stay on the ship, don't let anyone on for anything. If there is a problem, use the calls. This shouldn't take long-I hope." Hiccup said calmly.

"Understood." Ryker nodded to him as Hiccup began his way down the dock and towards the great hall with Astrid, Tore, Hagen, Milla, and Viggo. Hiccup felt terrible and just wanted this day to be over with so he could sleep and recover before the sail back to Cloud Rider Isle. Reaching the hall, Spitelout let the group of them in and as he remembered from previous years-a chieftain sat in formal chair and others would sit near them and the rules were to stay quiet until spoken to. Hiccup took his seat while greeting the others, Astrid beside him on his left, Viggo on his right and then the kids closest to Astrid.

 _'Let's get this over with,'_ he thought sighing as Stoick brought the meeting to order and it began as it always did.


	18. Chapter 18

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 18**

~Normal POV~

The time was now 4:45pm or so, the meeting had been going through as it always did with each chief or chieftess telling about their raids-it made Hiccup sicker to hear about the killing and he always felt the hesitation in their voices when they talked about it and were looking at him when they spoke, seeing if he would get angry or not but most often they just saw him sitting there quietly with his eyes closed and not seeming to be paying attention at all. Gobber wasn't making eye contact with him-things were still tense between then from last night's argument. Hiccup hadn't meant to get harsh with him but that was the only way to get the point across to Gobber that revealing who he was was a bad idea, it would start so much drama that Hiccup didn't want. All Hiccup wanted was to just take him family back to his island and be left alone by everyone else around him excluding his Tribe.

"Hedvig?" someone said to get his attention-his head was pounding and the room was starting to spin slightly.

Astrid looked over to husband worried now and put her hand on his knee, "Babe? Are you okay?" she asked gently. Hiccup closed his eyes and put a hand to his head.

"I'm fine," he retorted, not trying to be harsh but he really wasn't feeling good in the slightest-he needed to get out of this room and get some fresh air or some sleep.

"Are you sure, Hedvig? You honestly don't look well," Mogadon mentioned.

"I said I was fine. I just didn't sleep well last night," Hiccup mumbled. Astrid wasn't buying it, she put her hand to his forehead to check for a temperature-which he did in fact have.

"You're really warm, Hedvig..." Astrid frowned.

"It's just a little cold, Alva...I'll survive." Hiccup assured her gently.

"How about I go to the ship and make you something for the fever and pain? I brought herbs with me," Astrid offered to him, he gave a nod to her. Astrid got up and kissed his forehead. "Boys, stay with your father and sister." she told them.

"Yes, Mom." they nodded.

"Viggo, go with her please?" Hiccup asked him.

"Yes, chief. Will you be alright?" Viggo inquired leaning closer to him.

"I will be just fine. I want my wife safe-go her." Hiccup ordered.

"Understood, Chief Hedvig." Viggo nodded and followed after Astrid while she left the Great Hall. Hiccup took a deep breath and sat back in his chair, eyes closed.

"You can continue, I'm paying attention even though I look like I'm sleeping." He mentioned to the others.

"We don't mind waiting," Stoick offered.

"Just keep going. This has already dragged on long enough," Hiccup stated firmly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, it's...kind of your turn." Bertha said now.

"I swear we go over this every single meeting. I don't have a raid report for you-in case you keep forgetting. I don't get them." Hiccup reminded with a sigh.

Milla yawned-clearly she was getting tired too. "Can't my brothers take me outside to pway?" she asked.

"Sorry, kiddo. Daddy needs you here to keep him company." Hiccup smiled at her.

"But it's so boring. Dese people don't even wike the dwagons-they are mean and hurt dem. I wanna go home!" she stomped her foot frustrated now.

"I know princess, it's boring for me too. Trust me-but I'm a chief too so I have no choice but to come, sit, and listen to it." Hiccup winked at her as she giggled.

"We can take her outside, Dad. We don't mind, this really does stink like dragon dung..." Tore mentioned.

"Can you pway wiff me until Mama gets back?" Milla asked while trying to climb in his lap. Hiccup chuckled some as he picked her up and got to his feet before nodding to her.

"Just for a little bit. And you two are the next oldest to take over the island, you'll have to do this stuff too." Hiccup sighed.

"I won't be chief of the island. I'll be king of the whole Archipelago and everyone will have to do as I say!" Hagen beamed brightly as the others in the room laughed a bit at the boy's high hopes. Suddenly both boys grinned as Hiccup paled-they wouldn't do it. Not here they wouldn't. Gods, please don't let them do what he prayed they wouldn't. _"I'm gonna be a mighty king so enemies beware!"_ Hagen sang. Hiccup's eyes widened.

"Well I've never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair..." Tore chimed in.

" _I'm gonna be the main event-like no king was before! I'm brushing up, I'm looking down-I'm working on my ROAR!"_ Hagen went again.

"Thus far, a rather uninspiring thing..." Hiccup sighed heavily.

" _Oh, I just can't wait to be king!"_ Hagen and Tore sang together.

"You've rather a long way to go young master if you think-" Hiccup was stopped short.

" _No one saying 'do this'."_ Tore smiled wide.

"Now, when I said that..." Hiccup started.

" _No one saying 'be there'."_ Hagen chuckled.

"What I meant was..." Hiccup tried again.

" _No one saying 'stop that'."_ Tore went again.

"Look, what you don't realize is..." Hiccup attempted-the others were just sitting there confused as all hell as to what was going on anymore.

" _No one saying 'see here'!"_ Hagen and Tore sang out together again.

"NOW SEE HERE!" Hiccup said louder now as the two stopped quickly looking down. "Sit, both of you." he ordered firmly. Tore and Hagen sat down in their chairs as Hiccup kneeled before them. "Even as a king, boys, the job is to protect the people under him. Being ruler, leader, king, or chief...it doesn't mean you're the boss and everyone does as you say or you doing whatever you want. It means they will rely on you to keep them safe, protected, fed, housed, clothed. Being the chief is a huge responsibility-you have to make hard choices that don't benefit you, but benefit your people. It's not easy being in charge of so many people. Look at our Tribe, we have sixty four people who I have to protect and lead. You've seen how stressed out I can get." Hiccup informed them.

"You mean like a few weeks ago with all the storms and we could harvest, hunt, or fish?" Tore asked him.

"Exactly. I know you think I'm being harsh-but it's only because not everything is as peaceful as our island. It's my job as your father to teach you right and wrong, to teach you to think about others over yourselves, to fight and defend because one day, the island will be yours to protect." Hiccup told them gently, Milla too who was sitting in his chief chair.

"But...you're not going anywhere, right daddy? You'll always be with us, forever?" Milla asked. Hiccup smiled some as he kissed each of their foreheads.

"In your hearts, yes, I will be. But I won't live forever kids. I won't always be around to tell you what you should do, or show you what to do. I won't always be around to protect you, all I can do is prepare you for the world outside our island. I can promise you this though, we'll always be family and I will always love you all and your mother. We are one." Hiccup smiled to them.

"What do you mean, Dad?" Hagen asked.

" _As you go through life you'll see, there is so much that we...don't understand. And the only thing we know is that things don't always go the way we planned. But you'll see every day, that we'll never turn away. When it seems all your dreams come undone. We will stand by your side, filled with hope and filled with pride...we are more than we are, we are one."_ Hiccup sang softly to them.

" _If there's so much I must be, can I still just be me...the way I am? Can I trust in my own heart, or am I just one part...of some big plan...?"_ the three kids sang together.

Hiccup got to his feet now and pulled Milla into his arms as the boys stood on either side of him, _"Even those who are gone, are with us as we go on. Your journey has only begun. Tears of pain, tears of joy-one thing nothing can destroy...is our pride, deep inside, we are one."_ he paused a moment as Astrid came back in holding the cup, Viggo beside her and saw the scene of the boys hugging their father, Milla with her arms around his neck and snuggling into him. _"We are one you and I, we are like the earth and sky. One family under the sun. All the wisdom to lead, all the courage that you need. You will find when you see...we are one."_ he finished as the hugged him tighter.

"You'll understand one day," Hiccup said hugging them back.

"Oh, sure. Sing when I'm not around you jerk..." Astrid remarked as Hiccup smiled at her now as she walked over and handed him the mug while taking Milla from him. Hiccup chuckled a little, "You owe me,"

"And I'll give it to you when we're back on our island and the kids are with their auntie Anya or uncle Eret." Hiccup said as Astrid blushed deeply while motioning for him to drink-but before he could, Hiccup fell into a coughing fit and Astrid got scared.

"Babe?" she said quickly when it sounded like he was choking.

"Daddy!" the boys and Milla said with worry. Hiccup stumbled a bit as the cup dropped from his hand onto the floor. Hiccup suddenly blacked out and fell back, Tore and Hagen got behind him and caught him-but had trouble holding him up.

"Viggo, help them!" Astrid said in fear, Viggo moved towards the boys and helped the twins hold Hiccup up-who was knocked out cold. "Oh Gods...Babe! Babe, please wake up!"

Gobber, feeling like he had too-rushed over beside them as Viggo and the boys were placing Hiccup down. "What happened to 'im?" the man asked.

"I don't know! I don't know, this has never happened before!" Astrid was on the verge of tears now as she tried to wake him up.

"He's still breathing, just knocked out my chieftess..." Viggo confirmed.

"Let's take him to Gothi, she's our village elder and healer..." Stoick offered. Astrid froze a bit, Gothi would figure out who they were and surely tell Stoick.

"No, it's okay. I can take care of him on the ship..." Astrid said quickly.

"Lass, Gothi is under the same vow is me...she knows it's him-she knew as soon as I came back four years ago. You say this has neva happened before, clearly he's sicker than he's letting on. If you want him to be okay, you need to let Gothi help him..." Gobber whispered to her. Astrid bit her lower lip as she nodded to him.

"Viggo, go with Gobber and take Hedvig to the elder of Berk. I'll be right behind after I get the kids on the ship with Ryker," Astrid ordered.

"Yes, Chieftess Alva." Viggo nodded affirmatively to her. Gobber and Viggo together carried the unconscious Hiccup to Gothi's behind Stoick's lead. Astrid gathered up the kids with a sigh of worry.

"Don't worry, Mama. Daddy be okay..." Milla said to Astrid as she was leading them out and to the ship to sit with Ryker, and the others while she got back to Hiccup to make sure he was okay.

(Gothi's Hut)

Thirty minutes had passed since Hiccup blacking out. Astrid was nervously pacing in Gothi's hut while Stoick stood against the wall, Gobber was beside Gothi helping her out. Viggo was also against the wall watching closely. Hiccup remained unconscious the entire time-but thankfully he was still breathing. Gothi finally stepped back and began writing in the sand.

"What's she saying?" Astrid asked quickly.

"Says that it's due to stress, lack of sleep, and being sick." Gobber informed after reading Gothi's runes.

"Well, when will he wake up?" Stoick asked now.

"Gothi says she doesn't know. His body needs to catch up with the rest of him, she suspects he will likely wake up tomorrow morning and she'll give him something for being sick." Gobber enlightened Astrid gently.

"Thank you, Gothi..." Stoick nodded to her as Gothi just began mixing up a few things then she got it down Hiccup's throat and stepped back-beginning to write again.

"She says to take him back to the ship and let him rest up-he should be better by mornin'." Gobber told Astrid.

"We will. Thank you. Viggo, can you carry him or should I help?" Astrid asked gently.

"I can manage him, chieftess." Viggo stated as he carefully picked up Hiccup and headed for the door, Stoick opened it for him and helped him down the stairs. Astrid was about to follow when Gothi used her staff to tap Astrid's shoulder to get her attention.

"What is it, Gothi?" Astrid asked, Gothi motioned for her to sit down on the bed, Astrid did so as Gothi touched her cheek and smiled softly. "What's all this about, Gobber. I have to get back to Hiccup..." she said softly.

"Easy lass. The lad isn't going anywhere but to the ship to rest," Gobber sighed some as Gothi began to write runes again, "Gothi want's to know if you've been sick the last few days at all?"

"I was sick about a three weeks ago when Hiccup got the letter about the meeting here. And I got seasick on the ship sailing here," Astrid admitted, Gothi arched a brow and her eyes fell on Astrid's stomach now. "Why? Did Hiccup get sick because I was?"

Gothi began to write again, "She says your sickness is due to something else," Gobber waited a moment as Gothi kept writing and then he smiled softly. "Gothi advises you to start taking it easy the next few months or so-six to be accurate."

"Wait...what are you saying?" Astrid's eyes widened a bit.

"Astrid lass. Gothi is tellin' you that yer with child and three months along." Gobber informed lightly. Astrid's mouth hung open now as she looked at her belly-is that why she had been so sick?! She was pregnant again? Oh Gods, and three months along. Hiccup was going to have a field day with that news. When had that happened? Her and Hiccup...made love a few months back but she'd been drinking the Maiden's tea, something to prevent pregnancy. How did she still end up pregnant?! "The lad will be so happy!" he exclaimed.

"Ssh! Stop using all of Hiccup's old nicknames from you. Someone is gonna find out-and you keep your mouth shut about my being pregnant...I'll tell Hiccup when we get back home. He's stressed enough as it is..." Astrid sighed some, it wasn't that she wasn't happy about it-but telling him now while on Berk when he was already stressed out wasn't a good idea.

"Gothi also suggests you stop hiding yourselves," Gobber sighed now.

"It's not my call, it's Hiccup's and I agree with his decisions. If you'll excuse me, my husband needs me right now...it's nobody's business on this island who we really are..." Astrid got up and left the hut.

"I tried," Gobber shrugged to the elder now. Gothi tapped his shoulder and he looked at the runes she had written. "What do you mean 'Destiny wins. Light will defeat Dark'." Gothi simply wrote:

 _It's their destiny to change this world. The truth will come to pass when light must overcome darkness._

"Well, I hope you're right..." Gobber said as Gothi smacked him with her staff, "Ow! Okay, I won't doubt you again." the old blacksmith mumbled as he rubbed his head.

(Hiccup's Ship)

Hiccup was set down against Toothless and covered up to rest, the kids all stayed close to him. Astrid reached the ship and kissed her husband's forehead. "You're so stubborn, Hiccup..." she sighed heavily.

"Is Dad going to be okay?" Hagen asked curiously.

"He will. He's just tired, sick, and stressed out. Things will be alright tomorrow kids, not to worry." Astrid smiled to them as she looked back at Hiccup calmly. _'I just hope you're ready to be a father again, babe.'_ she thought while stroking her fingers through his hair. The rest of the night was them eating by themselves as Hiccup seemed to remain unconscious but in truth it looked like he was just sleeping. They all got settled in their beds and called it a night around 9:45pm after Stoick came by to check on Hedvig, Ryker informed him that he was still unconscious and were hoping for a better morning.

(Next Morning)

They were all up except Hiccup, again. It was about 11:30am and he hadn't even moved an inch from the position he was placed in the night before. "I'm starting to worry about him," Viggo stated to Ryker quietly as the rest of the family was on main deck relaxing.

"Worry about who?" came Hiccup's voice curiously as he stepped on main deck.

"Dad!" Tore and Hagen exclaimed quickly.

"Daddy!" Milla squealed as she rushed over and jumped into his arms.

"Hiccup..." Astrid whispered as she got up quickly and briskly walked into his waiting arms, he smiled wide and held her tightly. "Thank Thor you're awake..." she whimpered some while cuddling into his chest.

"Hey, relax. I'm alright, babe." Hiccup chuckled some.

"You were unconscious since 5pm to now! You weren't alright! Gothi said it was because you were tired, sick, and stressed, why didn't you tell me!?" Astrid scolded him harshly.

"Sorry. But really, I'm okay now. The sleep helped a lot," Hiccup assured her as he kissed her gently the hugged Milla and the boys.

"Thankful you're alright, chief." Ryker smiled as did Viggo.

"I'm always alright guys." Hiccup told them as they all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief that their chief was awake and clearly alright. Gobber rushed onto the ship panting. He looked back to Astrid with a smile now, "By the way babe, happy five year wedding anniversary." he said as Astrid smiled wide and they shared another kiss.

"You too," she replied. "Are we...celebrating later?"

"I think we can arrange something," Hiccup chuckled as she blushed deeply. "I love you, Astrid."

"I love you too, Hiccup." Astrid said in response as she kept her arms around him. Even stuck on Berk, he wasn't going to let it ruin his day with Astrid, no way and no how. If he had too, they would take Toothless and Stormfly for the night to another island so they could be alone to celebrate it. Regardless of where they were, as long as they were together-Hiccup was happy as he ever could be.


	19. Chapter 19

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 19**

~Normal POV~

Hiccup knew he'd worried them when he passed out in the Great Hall, he wasn't expecting to fall into a coughing fit and black out though-he hadn't suspected he was that sick. Regardless, he seemed to be fine now. Astrid had told him that Gothi gave him something for the sickness, also that Gothi knew the truth about who they were and had since Gobber found out four years ago. Hiccup sighed some, he only figured that was the case-Gothi knew everything, it was part of her job being elder. What bothered him the most was that all this wasn't going to excuse the meeting between leaders of islands, it was picking up after lunch again. It sucked because Hiccup wanted to spend time with Astrid since it was their anniversary. Stoick and Spitelout had already been by the ship when word got out that 'Hedvig' was awake finally, they let him know if he was feeling better that the meeting would resume about about two hours.

Hiccup only nodded understanding, Astrid insisted that she and the kids were joining him again because she didn't want him to be alone in case he blacked out again. Viggo and Ryker were coming this time too, also Astrid practically begged him to go see Gothi to make sure he was going to survive the meeting so to make her happy, he agreed to go see Gothi-he didn't need Gobber's translation, Hiccup had learned the runes a while back so he could read them if she talked to him.

"We'll meet you at the hall, babe?" Astrid asked gently.

"Yes you will. Ryker, Viggo. Go with them. I'll be alright on my own to get to the elder's." Hiccup ordered.

"Yes chief." they replied and walked off with Astrid, the twins, and Milla. Hiccup sighed as he made his way to Gothi's hut to be checked over.

(Forty Five Minutes Later)

Hiccup finally reached the Great Hall after speaking with Gothi-it had been a long conversation, rather Hiccup talking and Gothi writing. After all said and done, Hiccup was cleared to be okay-he just had to take it easy and not overwhelm himself again. The young chieftain took a deep breath as he opening the door and walked in-the room quickly coming to a hush.

"Dad!" the twin exclaimed getting to their feet as did Milla-who rushed over into his waiting arms. Astrid came over slow and greeted him as always with a kiss on the cheek.

"All cleared, Love?" Astrid inquired gently.

"Perfectly as long as I take it easy," Hiccup chuckled a bit walking them back over to their spot.

"You look much better than you did yesterday," Heather smiled softly.

"I feel better than I did yesterday, thank you. So, we picking this meeting up from before?" Hiccup inquired looking to Stoick.

"Um, yes. It was your turn-I know you don't get raids but maybe you can help us learn a few new tricks to subdue them?" Stoick replied now.

"I taught you all you needed to know. How are you to learn anything if you do not attempt on your own?" Hiccup asked taking his seat as did his family.

"The dragons here aren't docile as yours are though, chief Hedvig." said Oyvind from Waterlands.

"Every dragon is the same-you only need to understand them as I do. And that was a skill I taught you four years ago," Hiccup replied now.

"Well, it's not working. You say we don't have to kill them, that peace is possible and it seems to be only your island that doesn't suffer. Our raids are worse than ever and what are we left to do but kill them to protect ourselves. You know the secret behind it and you won't tell us. How can you call yourself a chief of the Archipelago if you aren't willing to help the rest of us!?" Madguts yelled now.

"If you had had come with the rest of the leaders, you would have learned what you needed to in order to control your raids." Hiccup retorted now.

"Obviously it hasn't done them any good either! We all still suffer the raids even with what you taught them. It's not enough, you're holding out on us and we demand to know the secret behind you sole success." Madguts ordered.

"That's too bad for you. I gave you all what you needed-it's not skin off my bones if you can't apply it correctly." Hiccup closed his eyes now.

"And here you speak of peace." Stoick stated as Hiccup glanced over to his father now, "Madguts is right. You know how to stop it and you refuse to show us. We have no choice but to kill them for the security of our islands and Tribes. We only see you once a year-you don't allow outsiders to your island. The lot of us are beginning to think you're hiding something on there. Why won't you show us?"

"Give me one good reason why I should?" Hiccup asked now.

"To spread this peace you speak of!" Madgut yelled now. "How do we even know this man is chief of his island? He's just a kid,"

"What are you saying, Madguts?" Mogadon inquired.

"Nothing about him adds up. Think about it! We, for the first time ever hear of him four years ago. This kid is younger than all of us. He's what, twenty four?" Madguts pointed at him. "Not to mention, you cannot just go around claiming islands and becoming chief of them. That is not how we do things, how did he even become chief!"

"The Tribe voted him as such because he found the island," Viggo informed calmly.

"Then everything about him against the laws. Tribes voting in a chief is only done when every member of the Tribe is an outcast, or runaway. Claiming an island can only be done if it's abandoned with no viking or dragon claim already. Nothing about him makes sense, he's not from the Archipelago so he doesn't have the right to be here and claim and island within the Archipelago! If he's from the Archipelago then the only way to become chief is by being the Heir of a chief." Madguts informed. All eyes were on Hedvig now.

"We are every much from here as all of you," Astrid remarked with her arms over her chest.

"Then what Tribe did you used to belong to? You say you're from here, well, every chief or chieftess of the Archipelago islands is here in this room. And none of us cast out a Hedvig Olovsan and Alva-whatever your last name was before you two got married." Madguts asked.

"I don't believe we're here to discuss my wife and mine's pasts. This is to discuss dragons-which only you people seem to have trouble dealing with." Hiccup sighed heavily.

"I think you two were troublemakers like those two were on my island," he motioned to Tore and Hagen. "So who are you really?" Madguts said firmly.

"Leave my sons out of this unless you want to have a problem with me. Is that clear? I warned you once four years ago. You push me this time and I won't hold back," Hiccup warned darkly.

"Are you threatening me boy?" Madguts asked.

Hiccup chuckled a bit, "One thing you'll learn about me, chief Madguts, is that I never make threats."

"Alright that's enough you two. We can discuss the rest of this later, I came here to figure out how to handle dragon raids and you're the only one with answers, Hedvig. Why won't you tell us? The things you taught us only work to a degree,"

"Let me answer your question with one of my own." Hiccup began as the eyed him curiously, "Why should I show you something I had to learn on my own? No one taught me, I tried different things until something worked. I gave you a good starter, why can you not simple figure the rest out. It's not that difficult a task,"

"Because lad, as a chief yourself-we help each other out. You have the answer to something we've sought years to find," Gobber said now as Hiccup looked at him and arched a brow seeing the man's pleading eyes.

"You want the truth of why I won't tell anyone?" Hiccup asked, they nodded. "Because I don't trust a single one of you not to use the information to capture, hurt, or kill the dragons. I gave you all you needed to learn the lesson I taught myself when I was seventeen years old. How do I know you didn't use what I taught you to gain their trust and kill them? You've all admitted to still killing, so I refuse to reveal information that could hurt them further." The door opened revealing Soren, one of the ship crew.

"Chief Hedvig, we have an issue on the ship..." he said quickly. Hiccup stood with a sigh now looking to his wife.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." Hiccup said, she nodded as Hiccup left the Great Hall with Soren. Astrid sighed some as Milla climbed into her father's seat happily.

"He's a traitor to all vikings!" Madguts raged. "He's not from here, he can't be. None of them can be with how they act. Just claiming an island, him being chief, adopting two kids, marriage none of us knew about and those things are supposed to be announced."

"You are increasingly annoying," Tore remarked coldly.

"What did you say to me you little brat?" Madguts got up now.

"Just leave our father alone. Our lives were perfect before you all came along-you stress him out." Hagen added.

"Boys. That's enough, it's your father's business..." Astrid said firmly.

"Sorry, Mom." the twins replied.

"As for you, chief Madguts. Please stop questioning everything regarding my husband, you have no right to judge us when you were willing to kill two nine year old boys because they were helping a dragon." Astrid stated now. Madguts fumed as he walked in front of her now.

"Oh, I wouldn't be giving me a hard time...Astrid..." Madguts said quietly. Astrid's eyes widened now, how had he known. "That's right...I know you two were the runaways from Berk. You really should learn to talk quieter and be aware of who is around you. So we're going to play a game, you're gonna make your husband tell us how to handle the raids or you're going to die along with your children and unborn one too..." Astrid looked forward to see Madguts pointing a dagger at her stomach.

"HEY! Let go!" the twins said quickly, Astrid looked over to see two of Madgut's guards holding the boys with daggers to their necks. Even Viggo and Ryker were being kept back from helping, Milla had hidden under her father's chair when the boys yelled-she knew when there was trouble, she got it from her father.

"Madguts, this is madness. Threatening them isn't going to make matters better." Mogadon said quickly. Milla escaped from under the chair and rushed outside.

"Daddy!" Milla cried rushing towards the docks and the ship her father was on.

"Milla? What are you doing out here by yourself princess?" he asked picking her up.

"That mean man is gonna hurt mommy and my brothers!" Milla said quickly. Hiccup's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"Watch her!" Hiccup handed Milla to Magnus then rushed back to the Great Hall and burst in to see Madguts keeping Astrid in front of him with a sword to her neck, the boys and guards were being held too.

"You're gonna tell us how to handle raids or I'm gonna kill your family," Madguts demanded.

"You're a real piece of dragon dung, Madguts. Threatening my wife and kids to make me tell you," Hiccup retorted.

"Well, dragons killed my eldest son. You won't tell us how to deal with them peacefully-so this is all I got left." Madguts growled.

"Madguts, I lost my son too but this isn't how we deal with things..." Stoick tried.

"Your son is closer than you think...and yours isn't dead, didn't get killed by a dragon..." Madguts scoffed. Hiccup looked to Astrid's eyes which told him all he needed to know that Madguts knew the truth. "Well, what's it gonna be, _Hedvig_? Information about dragons or your family?"

"Release my wife, sons, and guards and I won't hurt you..." Hiccup warned him.

"Why don't you make me-but if you take one more step...I'm gonna kill her." Madguts warned.

"Oh, I'll make you alright..." Hiccup grinned a bit as he raised a hand to his mouth-cupping it while letting off a roar like call, something very similar to four years ago. At first there was nothing, and then a return call as people outside were screaming 'Night Fury'. Without warning the doors pushed open and there stood on it's four paws, snarling with teeth bore-a Night Fury. A feared dragon likened the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, a dragon who didn't let it's victims live and never missed it's target.

"Get it!" someone yelled.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hiccup warned as they stayed back now. "Madguts, you asked me to make you release them. Very well then. Allow me to introduce Toothless, the Night Fury-lets see you stand against my dragon. Toothless! Alpha mode!" he commanded, Toothless roared out as his back spines split apart and began to glow a light blue, the his forehead, nostrils, and mouth did the same while he snarled angrily-eyes turning to slits. The shock alone forced Madguts to release Astrid, the others stepped back also releasing the boys, Viggo, and Ryker.

"This...isn't possible. How are you controlling it?" Thuggary asked.

"This is the extent of my peace with dragons. Toothless is trained to follow my commands, and will protect me or the family without a moments hesitation-also...he's king of the dragons." Hiccup informed. Toothless relaxed a little now when Hiccup put his hand on Toothless's head-the glow faded and the dragon crooned contently while his eyes returned to normal.

"You're no viking, you're a traitor! Siding with them, that's what you're doing!" Madguts yelled now.

"I never claimed to be a viking. I said I was a chief of an island and Tribe that has peace with deagons, father, and husband." Hiccup stated.

"Everything about you is a lie! You aren't who you say you are, neither is she!" Madguts remarked. Milla rushed into the room as Madguts grabbed her and she screamed-Toothless instantly went back to being protective.

"Daddy!" she cried in fear.

"Madguts, this getting out of hand. Let the little one go, we can settle it another way..." Gobber insisted-he knew Hiccup would outright snap if Milla was hurt over this.

"Let go of my daughter, Madguts..." Hiccup warned.

"No! You tell everyone the truth. You're in here preaching to everyone about being a family man when you're hiding from your own. I'll let her go when you tell everyone who you really are!" Madguts demanded. Hiccup didn't have a choice here, Madguts knew the truth about him and Astrid-that they hid their identities. Hiccup's daughter was in danger because of them hiding-how Madguts found out, he'll never know. But he knew this, everyone was about to get the shock of a lifetime.

"Fine." Hiccup stated, "Come outside," he added.

"What are you gonna do?" Astrid whispered to him.

"I'm giving him what he wants, babe. What choice do I have...he has Milla and I won't risk her life for our secrecy. It's time to show them..." Hiccup told her softly. Astrid nodded to him as they linked their hands together, "You want your truth, Madguts-then come outside." he said leading Astrid outside, the boys following with the guards behind them and then Madguts still holding Milla who was trying to squirm away from him. "Toothless, come on bud." he added as Toothless growled lowly and followed Hiccup-then the others began to follow as well.

The whole village belonging to the Hairy Hooligans was watching, they'd been curious since the Night Fury ran through at Hiccup's call. Hiccup and Astrid made their way to the beach area, stopping just by a small waterfall area where they would be dipping their heads to get out the dye.

"Stoick, what is going on?" asked one of the villagers.

"Hedvig. Alva. What is going on here. There's no truth to Madguts words, are there?" Bertha insisted.

"Unfortunately, Chieftess Bertha...there is. Alva and I were castaways-nor are we who we've made you believe we are..." Hiccup began.

"Then...who are you two and what is...your real story?" Camicazi inquired.

"We were seventeen year old runaways from our home island, travels two months to the island we now call our own. People started passing by, crashing there and seeing our peace with dragons. We explained that we ran away to get a new start, and those people decided as well to get fresh starts where there was no killing, no harm, no hate. We are from the Archipelago, and I was the Heir to one of the chief's standing here today." Hiccup explained.

"But...the only chief here who lost his son is..." suddenly all eyes were on Stoick whose face was slowly turning to shock.

"No...No, it can't be..." Stoick said in disbelief. Hiccup and Astrid took another look at one another before stepping under the small waterfall and letting the water take out the dyed colors that had rested there revealing Astrid's blond hair and Hiccup's auburn hair as Stoick's eyes widened.

"I'm not Alva Olovsan, I'm Astrid Haddock-formerly Hofferson..." Astrid said first with a firm look in her blue eyes. Already, there were gasps of shock and her parents rushed to the front beside a still surprised and stuck in shock Stoick.

"My name isn't Hedvig Olovsan..." he paused now revealing his green eyes to them after shaking his head to get most of the water off him. "It's Hiccup Haddock the Third." Hiccup said calmly but also being serious. "And we're the chief and chieftess of Cloud Rider Isle, home of the Skywing Tribe." he added. More gasps ensued after the reveal, Hiccup and Astrid were alive and had been there the whole time wearing disguises. Once more, they knew that the chief and chieftess of Cloud Rider Isle were married with two adopted children and one blood child between them. "Now release my daughter before I hurt you," Hiccup said drawing Inferno and igniting the blade as Toothless snarled dangerously while glaring at the Murderus chief. No one moved, this had already been incredibly revealing and confusing all everyone wanted was answers.


	20. Chapter 20

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 20**

~Normal POV~

The entire area had gone quiet after the reveal of Hedvig and Alva being really Hiccup and Astrid who had runaway from Berk seven years ago. And there was more to that reveal then them-it also became clear by Astrid that she was formerly Astrid Hofferson and currently Astrid Haddock, meaning she and Hiccup were married also that they shared a daughter together who Madguts was currently holding and Hiccup was about at the end of his rope with it. Madguts was beside himself-he had known it was them because he'd eavesdropped on the conversation but it was still shocking to him. Holding Milla tightly, he backed up and headed up onto the cliffs, it wasn't a far run from where they were.

"Not another step, Hiccup..." Madguts warned as he held Milla by the collar of her shirt and over the edge as she screamed with worry.

"My baby!" Astrid cried with worry.

"Enough Madguts. End of the line, you got no where to go. Hand over my daughter, now." Hiccup told him firmly.

"No! I lost my son because of raids, because of information you withheld from us. I find it's only fair you lose a child too!" Madguts yelled as he let go of Milla and she fell towards the water.

"MILLA!" Astrid screamed out as Madguts laughed.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called, the dragon rushed through the group as Hiccup threw his leg over on the saddle and opened the tail. "Go bud, go!" he urged his friend, Toothless jumped off the cliff as Viggo and Ryker grabbed Madguts and held him firmly, everyone looked over the cliff and saw Hiccup riding Toothless, they shot under Milla as Hiccup caught her in his arms. Toothless sped back upwards and landed on the cliff as Hiccup got off him while holding Milla close to him, he kissed her forehead and handed her to Astrid gently-who held her tightly and looked over her for injuries, trying to soothe her.

"Impossible!" Madguts said quickly.

"Not impossible when you're a dragon rider. That's the secret of my island, Madguts. We're all dragon riders and I ride a Night Fury, most elusive dragon known to vikings. My wife rides, my sons ride, even my daughter. All their dragons are on the ship-hidden below. That's why we've stayed on our ship this whole trip. I warned you not to push me and you did it anyway, now I won't hold back!" Hiccup glared hard as he brought his fist back and punched Madguts right in the face, Viggo and Ryker let him go as he fell right on his back. Madguts recovered quickly, trying to get up.

Madguts tried to take a swing-but Hiccup only leaned back to bend out of range. Coming back up he brought up his arm and blocked Madgut's next punch at him, throwing that down, Hiccup turned and elbowed Madguts in the stomach and then brought his fist up to hit him in the face a second time. Madguts stumbled back against a tree as Hiccup pulled a dagger from his belt and chucked it directly at Madguts-the man closed his eyes but the strike never came. He looked again to see the dagger a mere inch or two from his left eye and embedded into the tree trunk. Hiccup pulled his shield off his back and held it so it faced the sky while getting an arrow, the shield suddenly split into four parts as Hiccup pulled the arrow back and aimed at Madguts.

"I will only ask once. Do you give up, Madguts? Because I promise you that if you do not...the next shot won't miss." Hiccup warned as Toothless charged a blast in his mouth. The man's eyes widened as he lowered his head in defeat.

"I give up." Madguts said. Toothless receded his blast as Hiccup removed the arrow and the shield closed up, Hiccup returned his things to their normal spot as he walked over to Madguts and picked him up by his collar and slammed him against the tree-lifting him off the ground.

"If you ever come within five miles of my island or my family...I will not hesitate and I will kill you. Do we understand one another?" Hiccup warned in a dark tone, equally dark glare to match.

"Per-Perfect...ly, Chief Hiccup." Madguts responded.

"Good." Hiccup retorted as he dropped him and walked away towards Astrid, and his kids. Right away he pulled them all in for a relieved hug they were alright. "Are you all okay?" he asked.

"We're fine, Hiccup...we're all fine now thanks to you..." Astrid replied to him gently, he nodded as he kissed hers and Milla's foreheads, then hugged the boys-planting kisses on the tops of their heads. The rest, excluding Madguts were just standing there in shock. No one had ever seen what they had today-Hiccup riding a dragon, a Night Fury no less and him literally scaring the hell out of a viking who feared nothing.

"I'm glad. Now let's get on the ship and go home..." he smiled to them, "We're done here." he added as they made their way through the shocked crowd of people and moving to the docks. Stoick didn't know what to say or even do-he still hadn't processed everything.

"Astrid! Astrid dear, please wait!" cried out her mother, Asvilla Haddock-the father, Asmund right behind. Astrid sighed as she stopped and faced them, "Do you have any idea...how worried we've been about you?"

"I know-but I'm safe. Hiccup takes good care of me and our children..." Astrid replied gently.

"You've been gone for seven years. You're...married? With kids?" Her father asked rather astonished.

"Astrid and I have been been married for five years, have two adopted sons, and Milla-our blood child." Hiccup informed with his hand around Astrid's waist. "If you'll excuse us, Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson, we have to get back to our island." he added calmly as Astrid and him began to walk again.

"Now wait just a minute, you've been hiding who you two really were for four years? Why, Hiccup. Why didn't you tell me it was you?" Stoick rushed through-finally finding his words.

"Why didn't you tell that it was me?" Hiccup asked, "Gobber knew it was me four years ago, he recognized me right away with just a simple set of words. Why couldn't my own father recognize the son he claims to love so much?" Stoick bit back slightly, "If you want to know why I didn't tell you it was me-why don't you think back to that conversation on the ship four years ago when I right out told you why _your son_ probably didn't come back to Berk. When you figure that you, let me know. Until them, I'm taking my wife, my children, and Tribe members back home." with that, they all continued walking.

Reaching the docks they were all preparing the ship once more, the dragons now on the main ship deck and stretching out to relax. Stoick, the Hofferson's and Gobber rushed forward. "Wait, Hiccup...please..." Stoick asked calmly, Hiccup faced him slowly-arms crossed over his chest. "You were afraid to come back-because you thought I wouldn't accept you...that's what you told me and Gobber on the sail to your island."

"What is your point?" Hiccup asked now.

"I stand...by what I said that day. I'm disappointed-but only at the fact you didn't come talk to me about it. Hiccup, you can't leave...I need to understand all this, please? That's all I'm asking for...an explanation about everything." Stoick asked.

"Plus...there's a storm blowing in-it's dangerous for you to sail. Stay the night, please..." Asmund tried now-hoping he'd agree.

"Will any harm come to my dragons?" Hiccup motioned to them on deck.

"None at all. I swear it as chief, Hiccup. Will you agree to stay and explain everything?" Stoick asked him again.

Hiccup looked to Astrid now, his asking asking her the only question needing to be asked, "We should at least tell them the truth before we go home..." Astrid put her hand on his arm gently now. With a roll of his neck and heavy sigh, he looked back at them.

"Very well, we'll stay the night and I'll explain things." Hiccup stated, "And I only want to have to tell this story once, so anyone who wants to know can round up in the hall." he added. "We'll be there in fifteen minutes," Stoick nodded as he led the others away as Hiccup mumbled something about this being a pain in the butt.

"Great way to spend our anniversary..." Astrid sighed some-Hiccup knew she was upset about it. The last four years of marriage, they spent their anniversary taking a fly on their dragons and enjoying a night on one of the beaches for a firelight dinner-then ten to one they would end up back at home to make love while the kids remained at Eret's or Anya's place for the night. Now they were spending in on Berk explaining the last seven years to their former Tribe-he had to do something to make it up to her but he had no idea what.

Fifteen minutes passed as they were cleaned up and back at the Great Hall to explain their story-most of it was known, evidently they wanted to understand everything though. Gobber too, he hadn't known about the dragon riding four years ago. Hiccup took a deep breath as each member of the Haddock family-theirs at least-had their dragons behind them while they stood at the doors to the hall. Hiccup knocked twice and stepped back, the doors opened slowly as the whole of the tribe could be seen sitting at the tables. A few people gasped in fear of seeing the dragons.

"Don't worry, they won't hurt you..." Astrid assured as Stormfly squawked gently and nuzzled against her face and Astrid smiled. "My husband trained them well, and they are basically family." she added. Viggo was on Hiccup's left, Ryker on Astrid's right with the boys and Milla between their parents. Milla was holding tightly to her father's leg-still afraid from the earlier events that took place.

"Daddy, uppy?" Milla asked tugging at his pant leg. Hiccup bent down some and picked her up in his arms as she hid her face in his neck while clutching the front of his armor.

"Awe, she's so adorable." came Ruffnut's voice-one of the teenagers they had grown up with.

"Is this your family, Astrid dear?" her mother, Astilla asked gently.

"Yes. Babe, would you like to do introductions?" Astrid offered, "I'm actually not feeling well right now," she added.

"Why don't you sit down lass?" Gobber suggested-already knowing why of course.

"Go on and sit down, Love. I'll give the story to them," Hiccup smiled as he kissed her lightly and she went to sit down, Stormfly following her. "Alright, listen up because I only want to have to do this once..." he took a breath. "Astrid is my wife, and these are our children. Tore and Hagen Haddock, and this here is Milla Haddock. The twins are fifteen, and Milla is four. Astrid and I have been married five years today as a matter of fact. These two are my second in command, Viggo Grimborn and his brother, Ryker Grimborn is the head guard on my island. Three other members from the Tribe are here too, on the ship. Their names are Soren, Magnus, and Jonas."

"And...the dragons? Do they have names too?" Gobber asked calmly.

"Yes. My dragon is Toothless-and before you ask...it's because he has retractable teeth." Hiccup sighed some as Toothless's teeth retracted into his gums and he warbled happily when Hiccup scratched under his chin making him croon with delight. "The Nadder with Astrid is known as Stormfly. The Nightmare is called Firewing-he belongs to Hagen. This Nadder over here is Sharpclaw, Tore's dragon. And the Gronckle is Milla's, his name is-" Hiccup got cut off by Milla giggling.

"Stoney!" she said smiling wide as a few people giggled.

"She named him when she was two," Hiccup smiled as he placed her down on Stoney's back and the dragon jumped around a bit as she laughed happily.

"So, what is this fully story-from the beginning?" Bertha asked gently.

"Better get comfortable, its long." Hiccup sighed. He saw Astrid just sitting quietly with her eyes closed, he knew she was miserable right now because of everything. "Hang on," he said moved towards Astrid and kneeled down in front of her with his hands on her knees. "What's wrong, babe?"

"I just don't feel good is all," Astrid told him.

"This sickness has been on off for weeks, Milady. Starting to get a little worried here,"

"I'm okay, Hiccup. It'll pass eventually," Astrid smiled a bit.

"Lass, will ya just tell him?" Gobber mentioned as Hiccup blinked.

"Tell me what?" Hiccup asked.

"I was going to wait to tell you until we got back home-but since big mouth over here won't shut up..." she sighed a bit, then smiled. "Hiccup, I'm pregnant again."

Hiccup pulled back with wide eyes, "B-but how? We haven't...done anything in like two months." he said clearly blaffled.

"Remember that really stormy night that we spent in the cave with the dragons keeping guard because we couldn't get back to the village?" Astrid questioned as Hiccup nodded to her.

"Yeah, that was months ago." Hiccup mentioned.

"I know...I'm three months along, Hiccup. We're gonna have another baby. Gothi let me know the day you passed out-Gobber knew too because he translated for me." Astrid held his hands while smiling wide.

"Wait so then...that's why you've been so sick?" Hiccup asked and she nodded to him. "We're gonna have another baby?" he asked again.

"Yes!" Astrid laughed a little, Hiccup stood up now and pulled her up with him as he put his hands on her hips and span her around in the air-he brought her back into his arms and kissed her deeply. "Are you happy about it?"

"I'm over the moon, Astrid! How could I not be?" Hiccup smiled as he noticed Tore, Hagen, and Milla were confused-so were the others in the room. "Come here kids," he motioned for them to come over as they did slowly and he picked Milla up.

"What's up, Dad?" Hagen asked curiously.

"Is Mommy okay, Dada?" Milla asked tilting her head a bit.

"Mommy is just fine, I have a question for you though. Ready?" Hiccup asked her as she nodded. "Do you want to be a big sister?" Milla's eyes widened with excitement.

"I'm gonna be a big sister?!" she yelled out happily, "Mommy is having another baby? Is she really, Daddy!?"

Hiccup laughed out nodding, "She certainly is princess." Hiccup confirmed as the boys now rushed over to hug their mother tightly, Milla squirmed out of Hiccup's grasp and hugged her mother as well. Hiccup went over and hugged them all.

"Am I missing something?" Stoick asked.

"Yes, Stoick. Ya are. Astrid is pregnant, three months in with her's and Hiccup's second blood child. In short, you're about to be a grandfather again in six months," Gobber chuckled patting his friend's back.

"Congratulations, Astrid!" Ruffnut and Fishlegs yelled together.

"Thank you," Astrid beamed.

"Screw it, we're celebrating. Come here you," Hiccup grinned as she put the Milla down and took Hiccup's outstretched hand, he pulled her close to him and kissed her again. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too, So...since you get a new baby for our anniversary, can I ask you of something?" Astrid asked.

"Anything you want," Hiccup replied to her.

"Can we dance, like on our wedding?" Astrid smiled wide.

"How can I ever deny you, Milady?" Hiccup said as the two got into position and began slowly moving together in perfect sync around the open area of the floor.

"What are they doing?" Stoick asked.

"Leave them be, Stoick," Gobber chuckled some.

"Remember our song, babe?" Hiccup asked her as they pressed their foreheads together. Astrid nodded to him blushing a bit. __"Girl you are to me, all that a woman should be. And I dedicate my life, to you always..."__ Hiccup began softly to her. Astrid smiled blushing as she took a breath.

 _ _"A love like yours is rare. It must have been sent from up above...And I know you'll stay this way, for always!"__ Astrid sang out as she rested her head against his chest now closing her eyes.

 _ _"And we both know, that our love will grow...And forever it will be, you and me(yeah)! Ooh you're like the sun, chasing all of the rain away...When you come around you bring brighter days. You're the perfect one, for me and you forever will be...And I will love you so, for always!..."__ _t_ hey sang together dancing around-Hiccup span her once and brought her back to his chest.

 _ _"Come with me my sweet, let's go make a family. They will bring us joy, for always..."__ Hiccup smiled at her as she blushed deeply when he put his hand on her belly.

 _ _"Ooh boy I love you so, I can't find enough ways to let you know, but you can be sure I'm yours for always!"__ Astrid sang after he did with a happy smile.

 _ _"And we both know, that our love will grow...And forever it will be, you and me (yeah)! Ooh you're like the sun, chasing all of the rain away...When you come around you bring brighter days. You're the perfect one, for me and you forever will be...And I will love you so, for always!"__ Together again in unison they sang as they just kept dancing slowly-a form the others had never seen before. Hiccup and Astrid just stared in to each others eyes.

 _ _"Ooh you're like the sun, chasing all of the rain away...When you come around you bring brighter days. You're the perfect one, for me and you forever will be...And I will love you so, for always!"__ _t_ hey sang together in perfect harmony it seemed, so in love they were. Astrid parents just smiled, Stoick did too after a few moments. He still wanted to know about everything but he wouldn't interrupt his son's dancing with his wife over it. _ _"Ooh...ooh...I will love you so for always. Ooh...ooh...I will love you so for always. Ooh...ooh...I will love you so for always."__

The two finished as Hiccup dipped her low and kissed her passionately as a few began clapping for them. "Okay, now it's the best anniversary ever," Astrid giggled a bit when Hiccup brought her back up to her feet. Hiccup kept his arm around her waist while taking her back to her seat.

"Neva heard a song like that before," Gobber mentioned to him.

"You wouldn't have. Astrid and I wrote it for our wedding five years ago," Hiccup stated now as Astrid sat and relaxed with the kids around her. "Alright, now you can have your explanation. Sorry, wasn't going to disappoint my wife on today,"

"It's alright son. Today is mine and Inga's five year anniversary too," Stoick said.

"Wow, Gobber wasn't kidding when he said we both got married on the same day." Hiccup blinked some.

"What do you two normally do?" Snotlout asked.

"Go for a fly, fire-lit dinner for two on the beach, send the kids to Eret's or Anya's house, and make love all night." Hiccup shrugged.

"Hiccup!" Astrid blushed.

"What? Just being honest babe." Hiccup mentioned to her calmly, Astrid only smiled and shook her head at him. "Are we done asking questions now? You wanted an explanation..." he mumbled some.

"Floor is yours, Hiccup." Gobber told him. Hiccup took a deep breath, here went telling them everything from the last seven years since he and Astrid left Berk on their dragons. What a fun day this was turning out to be-but nothing beat the news that he was going to be a father again. No matter what happened now, that would keep him happy.


	21. Chapter 21

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 21**

~Normal POV~

The Hooligans of Berk would admit that they were beyond happy their Heir, Hiccup, was alive, as was Astrid-but the shocking thing to that reveal was only because a grief stricken chief forced them into telling everyone who they really were. All they knew so far was that Hiccup and Astrid were married with two adopted sons, one blood daughter, and now-another on the way with Astrid being three months pregnant. Also that Hiccup was chief of his own island because he had a second in command and lead guard-the biggest find of it all was when Madguts threw Milla off the cliff was that Hiccup was a dragon rider of a Night Fury and more on that was that everyone on his island was a dragon rider. They wanted to know more, they wanted to understand how all this began and now with Hiccup and Astrid having their little moment to celebrate their five year anniversary of marriage, Hiccup was ready to tell them everything.

"This is a long story to get through so I'll tell it in sections..." Hiccup sighed heavily, this is not how he wanted to spend his day. Honestly he just wanted to take his family and go home-forget this all ever happened.

"And are you starting from when you left Berk?" Fishlegs asked.

"Oh no, this starts way before that so just be quiet and listen..." Hiccup took a breath. "Who here remembers the day my father yelled at me in front of the village when I said I shot down a Night Fury?" he asked as a few people put their hands up, "Well, Toothless is that Night Fury. When he landed in the forest, his left tail fin had been torn off, but the tail you see on him now is my creation." Hiccup began-from there he told them about leaving his father's house, sneaking into the forest and finding Toothless on the ground and then trying to kill him but couldn't. Hiccup explained that he let Toothless go, and then Toothless let him go. He also went more into detail about the fear he saw in Toothless's eyes and that is why he couldn't and wouldn't kill him.

Hiccup went on about his time in training, and then how he made several attempts to get close to Toothless but it always failed. "Finally after all that moving around on the lines he drew, my back was to him and only a few inches away. I turned around and was staring at him, I tried to touch him and he growled at me. So I did something crazy, I closed my eyes and turned my head with my hand out and felt him press his nose to my palm. When I looked at him again-his eyes were closed to and I just...couldn't even begin to tell you the feeling it gave me. It was an unspoken...bond of trust, respect, and understanding between us. Toothless wandered off after that and Astrid came out of hiding telling me she saw everything..." Hiccup then started to explain all that.

How he told Astrid how he found Toothless, so on and so forth. He told them how Astrid said she wanted to help him get Toothless to be able to fly again because it wasn't fair he was trapped in the cove. That's when he began to tell about the tail building and after the test flight where he realized he had to control the tail fin for it to work. Hiccup told them how he and Astrid started dating-after the flight on Toothless and then after they landed, Astrid said she wanted her own dragon so they released Stormfly from the kill ring and had her stay in the cove while Hiccup trained her to train and ride a dragon. Hiccup cracked his neck after finishing that explanation and took a breath.

"So that's how you got so good in training, you were learning from a dragon yourself how to tame them with tricks. What I don't understand is why you didn't tell anybody you learned something like that?" Stoick asked.

"Would you have listened, Dad. I mean be honest here...when you found out how good I was doing you gave me a helmet and said how proud you were of me for being like you. You even admitted to me that before training I was the worst viking Berk had ever seen..." Hiccup mentioned calmly.

Stoick was going to say something-but then he stayed quiet realizing Hiccup was right. "What led to you two leaving?" Gobber asked now.

"You know that already-but I know the rest don't so...Astrid and I wanted to keep our dragons safe so we were going to fly them to another island and sail back to Berk-however, we didn't want to lose the friends we had made. When Astrid went home that night after we tied off in training, which was a plan to make it appear we both took the dragon down-she found out she was going to be engaged to Snotlout because his father went to her parents and offered double the bride price for her hand. When I got home, I was told I got selected to kill my first dragon in front of everyone and I knew I couldn't. I made the choice to take Toothless and runaway-but then Astrid came to me crying about the contract and I told her to come with me, we'd runaway together with our dragons and live our own life where no one could tell us how to be or what to do. She agreed so that night a little after midnight-we met in the cove and took off on Toothless and Stormfly off of Berk." Hiccup explained.

"So you never took a ship, that's why no one saw you sailing. You two took the dragons..." Stoick said softly.

"And used the cover of night so no one would see us flying either. We'd gotten past Hysteria and Bog Isle by 6am-we were both tired and had to stop on an island for the day. We ate, and slept in a cave until later on. We thought of staying there but after investigating we found that is was crawling with Scauldrons who didn't want to be friendly. As good as I am-there are some dragons that I can't train to be docile. So we packed up and continued flying, I was marking islands on my map so I'd know which to avoid. It took us two months to find the island we call ours now, a lot of delays in flying due to weather, Astrid got sick once, and people sailing. Once we got to the island-we knew we'd need materials to start building a home there." Hiccup told them.

"Is this...when you came to Bog Isle?" Camicazi asked.

"Yes. We actually flew there, made sure to land the dragon in the beach caves then we put ourselves in the water to wait to be found. We introduced ourselves as Hedvig Olovsan and Alva Vintmar to Bertha and Camicazi. Came up with the story we were cast out at eleven years old, had a place of our own but it was destroyed by a raid. Bertha agreed to give us the materials we needed if we worked for it so we stayed on Bog Isle for a month. We snuck away under the cover of night with the ship they gave us, and the dragons pulling it. Once getting back to the island, we named it Cloud Rider Isle and got to work building." Hiccup said.

"Took us six months too. We planted everything first, then built our house, then the barn, forge, and stables. After all that was done, we just enjoyed life there on our own. Then others started coming-crashed there, curious, needed a place to stop for the night. We didn't hide ourselves, we just let people see on their own that there was peace with dragons on our island so people decided to stay and more building continued. When we were nineteen, we adopted Tore and Hagen after they'd been sent of Murderus Island for helping a wounded dragon. Madguts was going to kill them for being traitors, their mother pleaded for their lives-trading hers for theirs." Astrid added in as the boys looked down and she hugged them both.

"A month after that-I proposed to Astrid. We'd formed a Tribe-Skywing, and they needed a chief-which I'd been voted as because I was the only one to have the status of being an Heir myself. Our Tribe at the time only had twenty five members including Astrid and myself. Two months after proposing, we got married and in those two months we gained three more people. Eret-who is now my lead trainer, Eydis-our healer, and Hella-the elder. Astrid and I were married, then six weeks after the wedding-it came out she was pregnant. The boys turned ten, she and I turned twenty and that was it really until the chieftain meeting on Meathead Isle where you all learned of my island and Tribe." Hiccup stated calmly.

"And...out of curiosity here, how did Gobber know it was you two?" Stoick asked.

"When I put you through the training, I used a line he had said to us when we were in dragon training: _I believe in learning on the job_. And I guess he saw my scar when Stormfly licked me. The hair color was just a dye Astrid created for us to use in case of outsiders. And the last four years since the first meeting on Meathead-we've gained more Tribe members. Sixty four now, and the island is doing better than ever with the way I run it." Hiccup answered.

"Gobber, I don't understand why you never told me you knew where Hiccup was!" Stoick yelled now.

"Because of that old law that says I can't reveal information about another chief...Gothi knew too, she knew from the minute I stepped foot back on Berk after we returned from the lad's island..." Gobber replied. Stoick sighed now as he looked back at Hiccup.

"Why did you never let us know you were okay sweetheart-we've been so worried and upset with you gone..." Asvilla whimpered some.

"Because you would have tried to get us to come back and we let go of our old lives, and lived in the new one we made. We worked hard to get where we are now, we weren't just going to throw it away to come back to a place that still kills dragons." Astrid remarked.

"We only do it to protect the village..." Asmund said softly.

"Doesn't matter, you still kill them. Hiccup and I don't live that life anymore," Astrid said.

"So that night on the ship, when you spoke to us as Hedvig...you were actually telling me why you didn't come back. Because you were afraid I wouldn't accept you as this-a dragon trainer and rider? Is this what you meant in your letter to me? That you aren't a dragon killer because of Toothless? And you didn't know who you were when you really did but thought I wouldn't accept you?" Stoick asked.

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Hiccup retorted.

"Hiccup, I would have accepted you son. Look at this-you found peace where so many failed. You did something that not even yer mother could. How could I not accept this?" Stoick smiled some.

"Because you never accepted me as being different before this." Hiccup responded now as Stoick's smile fell. "I've always been different, Dad. Always. My inventing, drawing, even being, well, a hiccup. Growing up, I didn't have your acceptance. You always had be in the forge with Gobber, and any single time I messed up-you scolded me for it in front of everyone. I was never the viking you wanted me to be. I was never anything you wanted me to be-until you saw what I could do in the ring. That's when you were proud of me, that's when I had your acceptance. And the reason I left was because I knew if I told you the truth about what I discovered-you'd lose it knowing your son was best friends with a dragon."

"Hiccup, please. I meant what I said on the ship..." Stoick said.

"But it doesn't excuse the years before with you always telling me I wasn't something. I was never good enough for you, Dad. Never, until you saw me in the ring being like you. I'm never going to be like you! This is me, right here. Chief, husband, father, dragon trainer and rider! This is me-this something you can accept? That I secretly trained a Night Fury on Berk and only got so good in training because of him? That I whisked Astrid away on our dragons to an island we built ourselves? That we adopted two kids, got married, had one of our own, now another on the way? You don't even know half the things I've done since leaving here..." Hiccup said firmly.

"Viggo and Ryker were dragon hunters until they met me. I converted them to dragon lovers. Eret is a former dragon trapper. And the rest of the Tribe-some of them are actually people who used to reside on all of your islands. Some are from outside the Archipelago to. All people I showed the truth to and they wanted fresh starts too." Hiccup added after taking a breath. "So tell me, Dad. Is this something you can accept?"

"Of course I can. You're my son, and I love you, Hiccup. Please...I know I messed up all those years ago. I just want you back as my son, I want you to come home..." Stoick asked nearing him now.

"That is not going to happen. It can't even if I wanted to. I'm chief of my own island, have a Tribe...I'm not giving all that up to come back here." Hiccup said calmly now.

"You don't have to give it all up," Stoick said quickly.

"Excuse me?" Hiccup inquired now.

"Bring them, all of your Tribe. Bring them here." Stoick insisted.

"Have you lost your mind? My Tribe has sixty four people, it would take ages to build that many new homes." Hiccup questioned.

"I'll do whatever I have to, Hiccup...just come back to Berk. I've missed you, Astrid's parents have missed her. We want to be in your lives. You can still have them...we won't try to stop it." Stoick tried again.

"This is insane, you know that. I can't believe you're even suggesting it..." Hiccup sighed with his eyes closed. "It's just better to keep things as they are." he said moving towards Astrid and his kids now. "It's time for us to leave, long sail home."

"Astrid please, please don't leave again..." her parents begged her.

"Hiccup is right, what we have on Cloud Rider Isle can never be done here...and I'm not giving up what Hiccup and I built from the ground up." Astrid said as she moved away from them and beside Hiccup.

"We can do the same thing, just teach us..." Gobber said.

"We've been over this. I taught you what you needed in order to have what I have and four years later-you're still killing dragons! It took me a month to learn the truth with Toothless-you have no excuses anymore. It was a choice, and you chose to kill so I choose to walk away from it-again." Hiccup retorted leading his family out, Viggo and Ryker following closely.

"Son please...we'll do anything. I'll do anything to have you stay here. I'll even step down as chief and give you Berk to lead-however you want to. You can bring your Tribe here, and your dragons. I won't get in the way or stop you...just please stay." Stoick said quickly which made Hiccup freeze and slowly turn to face his father.

"What did you just say?" Hiccup asked him. "Did you just say you'll step down as chief and let me do things my way?"

"Yes. Yes I did, son. And I mean it too-I'll step down today, right now even...if you agree to stay on the island. You can bring your dragon, and Tribe members here, you can continue to be chief of them and the Hooligans and run things your way." Stoick said firmly with a nod but still pleading eyes.

"And how do I know you won't hurt my dragons?" Hiccup asked.

"I give you my word, on my life that no harm will come to them. Teach us your way, son. We want to learn...please. Please stay..." Stoick asked him. Hiccup didn't know what to do-his father was willing to give up his chiefdom to let Hiccup stay chief of the island, and bring his Tribe and dragons back to Berk. In all his years, he'd never seen Stoick get so desperate to keep him around-to want to him to be around. It was a new feeling for him, he wasn't sure how to feel about it at that. Hiccup was actually shocked, he looked at Astrid who was just as surprised at Stoick's sudden and bold offer. "Will you stay, son?"

"You're actually being serious right now?" Hiccup asked.

"As serious as you were when you kicked Madguts butt." Stoick replied. Hiccup closed his eyes sighing-he couldn't decide this right now. It was an incredible offer but it didn't just affect him-it affected everyone on what he decided to do. He had the chance to convert a lot of people into what he and Astrid strove to do from the beginning.

"You're going to need to give me time to consider this. It's not just me who this affects, it's my entire island." Hiccup stated.

"Y-you're...actually considering it?" Stoick asked in surprise as was Gobber, and the Hofferson parents.

"Considering, and that is all for now. I need to speak with my wife and Tribe. When I have made my decision, I will contact you. Until then, I expect to be left alone." Hiccup remarked as he continued walking with Astrid, the twins, Milla, Viggo, and Ryker.

"Wait...can we come too?" Fishlegs asked.

"Come where?" Astrid blinked some.

"With you, to your island. We wanna see what you guys built, please? We haven't seen you in so long!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

"Us too? We've missed you so much, Astrid." Asmund added on now.

"It's up to my husband," Astrid stated looking up at him.

"Your parents and those four can come, the rest stay behind. I don't want too much weight on the one boat because we have the dragons too. And if you two," he began motioning to the the Thorston twins, "or you," he pointed to Snotlout, "cause trouble on my island, I'm throwing you in the prison hold. We clear?" Hiccup stated firmly.

"Crystal, Hiccup..." the three he'd motioned to nodded.

"Good. We leave at daybreak. They can stay for a week-then I'm sending them back on a spare ship," Hiccup informed and then looked to his father. "You'll have my answer within a month or two," he added.

"We'll be waiting, son." Stoick nodded to him, with that they left the hall and returned to the ship with the dragons following them outside and towards the docks. As soon as they all loaded on it, Hiccup went below deck and sighed heavily lying against Toothless who crooned worried for his rider and friend. Astrid came to sit beside him.

"Are you actually considering it?" she asked.

"I don't know. I said I was going to-but can I really? Just give up everything up to come back here?" Hiccup asked her.

"In truth...I wouldn't mind coming back if they are willing to change-we said one day we'd show the world what we have, the peace between humans and dragons. This could be that chance. I do miss my parents and I...want them in our children's lives-but no matter what you decide, I'll stand beside you as your friend, partner, wife, and chieftess." Astrid told him as he nodded, "Take some time to think about it," she smiled and kissed his cheek before getting up to go back on main deck to check the children. Hiccup sighed out looking at the ceiling, he told them he'd consider it so it wouldn't be fair to not consider it at all-but for now, he was going to wait until he got back to Cloud Rider Isle-this was something he needed to think about carefully and involve everyone else. Yes, he would wait for the time being.


	22. Chapter 22

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 22**

~Normal POV~

As planned the afternoon before, they were all up at first light and ready to leave for Cloud Rider Isle because Hiccup had a lot of considering to do regarding this choice his father had given him-more of begging but Hiccup could still decline it and just continue his life the way it was. Hiccup woke up before Astrid and his kids, but they woke up not long after-all stretching and groaning a bit. Today they'd be sailing back to their island with a few extras: Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Astrid's parents, Asvilla and Asmund. Thus far in his thinking-although he said he'd wait-he was considering Astrid's feelings in all this. She gave up her life on Berk to runaway with him, it had been her choice to leave though because she didn't want to marry Snotlout. Hiccup and her wanted to stay together and not kill dragons-that's why they left together.

Hiccup knew Astrid missed her family, on special holidays like Snoggletog she got a little upset about not being with them. Hiccup also knew that he and Astrid with the kids could just leave and return to Berk-but them what about the village they built, the Tribe that formed and he was chief of? Hiccup couldn't just abandon them and there was no guarantee they'd all want to just up and move to Berk so suddenly. It was making his head hurt trying to figure things out and he wasn't even off Berk yet.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked him as he glanced over to her. "Are you okay,"

"I'm fine, Astrid. Just waiting to leave, have the others arrived on the docks yet?" Hiccup asked.

"On their way now, chief. Ryker and Soren just spotted them." Viggo informed calmly.

"Gave any thought to what your dad offered?" Astrid inquired.

"Not really. It's shocked he suggested it all, even going as far to say he'd step down as chief-but...I can't make any choices here. We'll need to discuss this with the Tribe when we get back, I won't just abandon them and who is to say they'd want to leave our island?" Hiccup sighed a bit.

"Don't stress about it, we'll figure things out when we get back to Cloud Rider Isle." Astrid smiled as she gave him a kiss and they moved up to the main deck of the ship seeing the Thorston twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the Hofferson's approaching with their bags.

"Why you gotta sail so early, Hiccup?" Ruffnut yawned some.

"The sea is at it's calmest-best time to go the farthest distance without a problem. Come on now, we don't have all day. Set your things below the ship-group them together and return to main deck." Hiccup said calmly as they ushered on the ship to do as they were told, Hiccup now saw Stoick, Gobber, and Spitelout approached and looked at him.

"Need anything for the trip? Blankets, food?" Stoick offered.

"No, thank you. We brought all we needed," Hiccup replied with a nod of his head.

"Your sending them back on a ship in two weeks?" Gobber inquired.

"Yeah. Should take us four to five to get to our island, they can stay a week and then I'll send them back here..." Hiccup informed. They nodded, seeming content with the answer.

"We'll hear from you soon?" Stoick asked hopefully.

"You'll hear from me when I've made my decision," Hiccup stated.

"We're ready to go, chief Hiccup." Ryker told him.

"Let's get a move on then," Hiccup replied as the gangplank was brought back in, "Sails out!" he ordered as the sails dropped, then Stormfly and Sharpclaw squawked at him, "Take to the sky Stormfly and Shapclaw-time go home!" he smiled, the two took to the sky while beating their wings as the ship was pulled away from Berk docks and out to sea at high speeds.

"You think the lad will agree?" Gobber asked looking to Stoick.

"I don't know-but I hope so, Gobber. I really do hope so because I miss my son and I want to be a part of his life, and my grandchildren's lives..." Stoick sighed some as he walked away from the docks.

(Four Days Later)

They were ten minutes from arriving on Cloud Rider Isle, Hiccup was so ready to just go lay in his bed and sleep for the rest of the day. He was tired and honestly feeling sick again-he could tell he was getting a fever and his body beginning to ache. "Ah, there she is..." Hiccup smiled gently.

"That's Cloud Rider Isle?" Snotlout asked.

"Yes, and it's riddled with dragons so mind your weapons. They won't attack you if you don't threaten them, got it?" Hiccup warned and they nodded to him-clearly not wanting to upset him after seeing what he'd done to Madguts a few days back. The ship pulled into the docks, tied there by his dock crew.

"Chief, you're back. Welcome home." said Ivar with a smile as they worked together to set the board down while Hiccup walked off with Astrid beside him. The boys and Milla were next, then Viggo and Ryker. The rest were going to unload the ship.

"Good to be home, Ivar. Where's Eret?" Hiccup asked.

"Right here boss." came Eret's voice as he landed on his dragon-a Rumblehorn named Skullcrusher. "Welcome back. Can I please be relieved of acting chief now?" he practically pleaded.

"Were there issues?" Hiccup asked.

"None at all sir-except Brant and Edvin-the village troublemakers." Eret sighed some.

Hiccup chuckled some, "They are just boys-they will grow out of it sooner or later. Patience is key, Eret. You'll understand when you have children of your own one day."

"No way, no how my friend. I am never having kids-I'm good with being a dragon trainer the rest of my life and single," Eret remarked with his arms over his chest, Hiccup chuckled again with a hand on his shoulder now.

"We'll see about that. Yes, you are relieved of chiefing duties." Hiccup smiled, Eret cheered as he got back on Skullcrusher and took to the sky.

"This village wouldn't be right without you, chief." Anya said gently.

"Auntie Anya!" Milla said happily rushing over to the woman with light brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Hello princess, I've missed you and these big hugs." Anya smiled wide hugging Milla.

"Guess what?!" Milla exclaimed as Anya looked at her curiously, "I'mma be a big sister!" Anya blinked now looking at Astrid for confirmation, Astrid nodded to her.

"I'm three months along, Anya. Found out while on Berk," Astrid replied.

"Are we celebrating again?" Viggo asked Hiccup.

"We will in a few days. I need to recover from the trip-take the guests to my house. They can use the downstairs rooms, Ryker will you inform the village we're back and let them know that we'll all get together to celebrate our chieftess being with child again soon." Hiccup asked.

"Right away, chief." Viggo saluted him as he motioned for the guests of the Hooligan Tribe to grab their things and follow him. They all did so quietly and moved behind Viggo to Hiccup and Astrid's house which sat center of just about everything.

"Oh, Ryker, also let them know we have guests from the Hooligan Tribe of Berk-they can know that the truth is out and can resume normal behavior. Two of the guests are Astrid's parents-I'll explain it all tomorrow." Hiccup said as Ryker nodded to him and hurried off. The time of day now was close to 6pm-just beginning to get dark. For Hiccup and Astrid, along with their little ones-they would eat dinner and likely get some sleep.

"Rest well, chief!" Soren called from the ship, Hiccup nodded to him as he led Astrid and the kids back to the house. Entering, he saw Viggo standing while the others were sitting around the living room.

"Thanks, Viggo. Why not go give your brother a hand corralling the village together to announce what I asked of him. See you in the morning for patrol?" Hiccup asked.

"Always, chief. Goodnight." Viggo bowed and left the house now. Stormfly and Toothless took their places inside the house while Sharpclaw, Firewing, and Stoney took theirs in the stable just off the kitchen.

"Welcome to the Haddock house," Hiccup told them.

"It's so big, you really built this yourselves?" Fishlegs asked.

"Painstakingly. Took the longest next to Hiccup's forge." Astrid chuckled a bit as she moved to the kitchen to start getting dinner ready. Something simple like fish sandwiches, yak milk, and mashed potatoes-a Hiccup creation. "Babe, will you get the fire going?" she asked.

"Got it," Hiccup replied as the boys and Milla went upstairs to wash up and change into something more comfortable. Hiccup set up the wood and then snapped his fingers while Toothless shot a small blast at it to light it up. "Thanks bud." Toothless crooned as Hiccup rubbed his head then got two half barrels of fish for them. "Boys, feed your dragons!"

"Comin', Dad!" they replied hurrying down the stairs to get the barrels for their dragons and for Milla's since she was too little to lift one her own. Astrid had everything prepared now and the water with the cut up potatoes sitting on the metal grate to cook. Astrid sat down taking a breath now with her eyes closed.

"Are you alright dear?" Asvilla inquired gently.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm okay. I forget how hard it is to be three months pregnant. Been a few years since I was with Milla..." Astrid stated with a smile.

"Well, take it easy, Milady. I'd like to see you make it nine months this time..." Hiccup chuckled sitting beside her.

"She didn't carry nine months with Milla?" Fishlegs blinked.

"No, she went about three weeks early. Back when the chieftains had gathered to learn about dragons here when the meeting was held on Meathead four years ago." Hiccup replied.

"So, how long until she turns five?" Ruffnut asked.

"Well, Astrid was...two months pregnant after the wedding and we just celebrated five years of that so...eight months I believe." Hiccup answered calmly as he went over to check the potatoes. "Another five or so minutes, don't worry, I'll mash them for you." Hiccup smiled as he kissed her cheek as she nodded to him-completely ready to relax.

"So, are we staying in your house for the week?" Tuffnut questioned now.

"Yes. I have a few extra rooms down here. Asvilla and Asmund can take a room upstairs. You four will have to share the two down here, two per room." Hiccup mentioned as he relaxed next to his wife. Astrid lifted her hand to his head and sighed some.

"You're getting warm again, Hiccup...maybe you should call it a night?" Astrid suggested.

"I plan to after dinner, babe." Hiccup replied with a nod as he then got up to check on the food again, he removed the pan from fire and drained the water, the grabbed a wooden utensil with a flat bottom and holes in it, Hiccup started mashing carefully, adding a few seasonings and butter to it then got plates and served everything to everyone in the room. The meal was mostly silent-half way through her sandwich, Milla fell asleep against Tore's arm. Hiccup put his food down and moved her plate after getting up and then he picked her up and took her upstairs to put her to bed. When he returned, he finished his food as well and yawned.

"Hiccup, go get some sleep. The boys and I can take care of clean up." Astrid smiled to him.

"Are you sure?" Hiccup asked tiredly, she nodded as he shrugged-knowing he couldn't win this argument with her. Hiccup kissed the boy's foreheads, then gave a light one to Astrid's lips before waving to the others and making his way back upstairs.

"You rest too, Mom. Hagen and I can take care of it..." Tore offered.

"And we'll make sure everyone else finds their place." Hagen smiled wide.

"I-if you two are sure." they nodded to her, "Well, thank you boys. Right to bed afterwards though, alright?"

"Yes, Mom. Goodnight," the two replied to her. Astrid got up and hugged them both as she said goodnight to her parents and friends before going upstairs as well. Tore and Hagen cleaned up from dinner and got the others settled in their rooms-Astrid's parents last of course since they had to follow them upstairs to that extra room. The rest of the night was silent after that, everyone sleeping peacefully.

(A Month & A Half Later)

When the week concluded, Hiccup sent Astrid's parents and the other four back to Berk as per agreement. The week was spent showing them around the island, hanging out, talking, catching up a little. Came to light that Snotlout and Ruffnut were under contract for marriage, in just a few months actually. Fishlegs had a crush on Heather from the Berserker Tribe, and Tuffnut shockingly had a thing for Camicazi of Bog Isle. Hiccup saw how happy Astrid was to have her parents around her again-it had been seven years after all and of course he saw how upset she became when they had to leave. This is what made his choice harder: now that everyone knew who they were-it was mingling their pasts into their present and futures.

Hiccup was no closer to making a decision about Stoick's offer. It wasn't so easy to just leave and return to Berk, even with the offer of getting to remain chief and have his Tribe and dragons there. However, that was just the problem. If they returned, Hiccup would become chief of Berk-not Cloud Rider Isle, and his the Skywing Tribe would become Hairy Hooligans-and that was if any of them wanted to leave. Hiccup couldn't even decide if he wanted to. Astrid and him built Cloud Rider Isle when it was nothing but caves, grass, mountains, beaches, and basically barren except for the dragons residing there. Hiccup didn't know if he wanted to give all that up-he knew he could, he just didn't know if he wanted to.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked gently.

"Hm?" Hiccup looked over at her.

"No closer to a decision, are you?" she inquired sitting beside him now, he shook his head to her.

"No...no I'm not, babe." Hiccup sighed some.

"I think it's time we bring this to the Tribe, Love. It involves them too," Astrid offered.

"I think you're right, it does involve them. Alright, let's round them up them so I can see their thoughts on it." Hiccup said as he stood up and helped Astrid up while they moved towards the event hall. Passing Viggo, he smiled some. "Can you get everyone in the event hall for me?

"Right away, chief." Viggo nodded and rushed off as Hiccup and Astrid reached the hall and took their seats waiting for the others to arrive-it only took about twenty minutes for the whole of the Tribe to get there and then the doors were shut.

"Alright, alright! Everyone settle down, I was made an offer six weeks ago and I feel you should all be aware of it and have an input on the final decision..." Hiccup said getting their attention. After they quieted down, Hiccup began to explain what happened on Berk during the chieftain meeting-how they were revealed and then the offer made to him about returning to Berk as the chief. "I have not given a response to my father about his offer, and try as I have-I cannot reach this decision alone. The offer was to return to Berk and take over as the chief there-the dragons are welcome as well, and so are all of you. The question here is this: what does everyone want to do?"

"You mean...if you leave here and be chief there-would we follow you?" asked Sylvia-one of Viggo's people.

"Or if we want to continue to stay as the Skywing Tribe who lives on Cloud Rider Isle. I am chief in either case, and the dragons among us still. The choice is in what you choose to do," Hiccup informed.

"What happens to Cloud Rider Isle if you leave?..." Corey asked.

"If you chose to follow me to Berk, the island would become abandoned as it once was before Astrid and I built what is here now. Or we can all stay here as we are now. I leave it to you to decide on," Hiccup told them.

"No matter where we go, my brother and I will continue to stay with you." Ryker stated firmly. "We gave you our full allegiance, and the Grimborn brothers never break loyalty." he added.

"Same goes for us," Anya, Stilsta, and Sylvia stated now standing.

"Myself as well," Eret nodded firmly.

"We all feel the same way. You formed this Tribe, chief. You gave us a new life, new start and showed us a truth that can change the world. We wouldn't give that up for anything-we stand with our chief. No matter if we are here or somewhere else. In our hearts, we'll always be the Skywing Tribe." Eydis confirmed as the others in the room nodded and cheered.

"The choice is yours, chief Hiccup. We will remain loyal and follow you always," Hella stated. Hiccup sighed-that didn't help him any.

"Let's go back to Berk, Dad." Hagen suddenly said.

"Yeah, let's show that old Tribe of yours how living in peace with all the happiness is really done!" Tore added as the other laughed, Hiccup looked at Astrid now.

"Anywhere we go as a Tribe-we're home, Hiccup We're not just a Tribe, we're a family and we stick together. It doesn't matter where we live-in the end, the island is just a place to live. We can have this anywhere we go, all it will take is us staying together and staying true to our hearts and who we really are. We're all standing with you no matter what you choose." Astrid held his hand now.

"It really means a lot to me for what you've all said and with that being said...I've made my choice..." Hiccup said firmly looking at them all as they went silent to hear what their chief decided to do.


	23. Chapter 23

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 23**

~Normal POV~

(Berk)

All of the Hooligan Tribe were awaiting news from Hiccup if he was going to take Stoick's offer-thus far it had been two months and nothing yet. Most of them were starting to think Hiccup only said he would consider it-then bailed so he wouldn't have to deal with them. It was angering and understandable at the same time-after all, he did have his own island and Tribe to care for. It's not like they needed him to come back because they had Stoick and even little Signy as Heir but she was just three going on four so technically if anything happened to Stoick-then they would have a problem. It was more of a want to have Hiccup and Astrid back-now that everything was understood on why they left at least. Astrid didn't want to marry Snotlout, and Hiccup didn't want to kill dragons-apparently neither did Astrid so they left Berk on their dragons and made a home of their own and stayed in secret for seven years. Now they had two adopted sons and a blood daughter, meaning they had an Heir and another on the way.

The old chief sat holed up in his house after his duties were completed for the first half of the day-next on the agenda was lunch in the Great Hall in ten minutes. Inga and Signy were already there, also after the meeting two months ago-Casper decided to stay too wanting to be around his little sister more. A knock on the door brought him from his thoughts about wondering if Hiccup was going to return to Berk. Stoick lifted his head to the door now.

"Come in." he stated, the door opened to reveal Gobber there.

"Ya know yew can't just sulk in 'ere old friend," Gobber sighed some.

"It's been two months, Gobber. I don't think he's comin'-I asked a lot of him before he left. To give up his island-something he and Astrid built to come live here. If someone asked me to do it, I wouldn't." Stoick replied.

"Well, at least take some comfort in knowing he and the lass are alive-just a week's sail from us. Also that they are happy with a family of their own," Gobber offered.

"Ah-but still, Gobber. If I had been a better father to him, listened to him-he wouldn't have left in the first place..." Stoick closed his eyes now.

"Stoick, be honest with yerself-if Hiccup had come to us seven years ago and told us everything we know now-you in a rage would have likely banished him from Berk, and Astrid too not for the peace thing either-for the dragon riding alone. You have to admit that, you know it's true. The way the lad showed us is the only reason we accepted it, we wouldn't have before." Gobber told him calmly.

"I suppose that's true too. I just miss him Gobber, he's done amazing things and he's a great chief-far better than I ever could have made him if he trained with me and that's what makes me more proud than anything is that I didn't teach him and he did it as instinct," Stoick reminded.

"Either way, it's the lad's choice and we'll still support whatever decision he makes." Gobber said with a hand on his shoulder.

"Aye, that we will...Where is my wife and daughter?" Stoick inquired while standing up with Gobber's help.

"In the hall waiting for you-we should get there ourselves. They won't start without-" Gobber was cut short when there was running by the house, words being heard like:

 _"Ships incoming!"_

 _"Get the chief!"_

 _"There are dragons are pulling the ship..."_

 _"It's Hiccup!"_

As soon as that last thing was said about it being Hiccup leading the charge of ships, Stoick and Gobber rushed out of the house and joined in the group of running villagers who were nearing the docks. Hiccup was sailing towards the island with an armada of ships and dragons pulling them? He wasn't waging war, was he? No, Hiccup wouldn't do that-there was no reason to start a war. Reaching the docks, Hiccup's ship pulled in first as Viggo and Ryker tossed the lines to the dock workers as the ship came to a halt-the gangplank set out.

"Hiccup?" Stoick breathed out.

"Hey, Dad. Sorry about making ya wait so long-there was a lot to prepare. Your offer still stand?" Hiccup asked with his arms over his chest; Astrid, Tore, Hagen, and Milla behind him waiting quietly.

"Of course it does. Have you...made your decision?" Stoick asked him.

"I have. Why do you think I brought the Tribe with me? There's three more ships following me with vikings on them, and a mass of dragons flying above the clouds that will be here soon too-they stopped to feed. Oh, and the two back ships behind the three are carrying supplies. My decision if not clear already, is to return to Berk and accept your offer, Dad." Hiccup said holding out his hand to shake with Stoick.

Stoick could have cried! Hiccup was agreeing to stay on Berk as the chief-without more hesitation, Stoick shook his hand then pulled him in for a hug. "I'm so relieved you're home, son. You as well, Astrid." Stoick told him.

"The whole Tribe followed you?" Gobber blinked.

"Hiccup is the best chief we've ever had, we'd never abandon him or split up the Tribe. Where he goes, so will we." Viggo informed.

"So, how do we do this. I have to be made chief of Berk or something?" Hiccup asked as he helped Astrid down the gangplank with the children following.

"You're already chief, we just need Gothi to name you chief of Berk with the ash symbol on yer forehead." Gobber smiled calmly.

"My only question is where were gonna add sixty four new people on the island, Stoick?" Inga asked him, "Nice to see you again, Hiccup." the woman smiled softly as Casper and Signy were beside her.

"And all the dragons coming in?" Spitelout mentioned pointing to the sky.

"The dragons will just move to the forest and live off the natural order of things. Grass, fish, live in caves and what not. They'll adapt on their own-not to worry about them. As for the extras, there's only twelve per ship right now and if we have to for a while-we'll stay on them." Hiccup informed. "Trust me, my Tribe can build houses in a month or two. We do it all the time," he added.

"Really, it takes that little of time?" Snotlout asked.

"Everyone works on their own house-building it to their needs." Astrid said with a hand resting on her now five month pregnant belly. "That and we actually took apart some of the houses on Cloud Rider to keep the supplies to use here and build with. We didn't want to take your stuff."

"And we brought our forge stuff, animals, and harvest along with any food we have left that we didn't eat on the sail-which we left the island a week ago." Hiccup stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Well, we can make you chief of here any time, just say when..." Stoick smiled.

"Gimme like two months to get Skywing settled here. I don't want to have to try and do that-plus be chief at the same time. Not that I haven't done it before, I just rather focus of settling in." Hiccup told him.

"Understandable and all of us will help too to build houses and do anything to make it easier for you, son." Stoick put a hand on his shoulder.

"Then we'll get an early start tomorrow morning," Hiccup nodded with a smile. "For now-I think it be best we just get something to eat and get some sleep, been a long few days of sailing."

"Of course. Join us in the hall tonight, son. We'll celebrate the return of the Heir, the upcoming chief and his chieftess with their own Heirs to the island of Berk," Stoick smiled patting Hiccup's back.

"We're here chief, orders?" came Enok's voice-one of Viggo's original men who was leading another ship.

"Everyone get off the ships, stick together and follow my father to the hall for dinner. You go with them, babe-you kids too." Hiccup smiled.

"Where are you going?" Astrid asked, Toothless came above ship now and crooned beside Hiccup-who rubbed the top of his friend's head before getting on his back and opening the tail. "Night flight?" she inquired.

"You know it. Be back soon," he kissed her then patted the side of Toothless's neck. "Let's go bud!" he called out as Toothless spread his wings and took to the dusk filled sky overhead.

"I wonder if he'd teach us how to ride dragons-looks awesome." Snotlout mentioned as Hiccup was gone into the distance.

"You think he would, Astrid?" Ruffnut questioned.

"That's entirely up to him. Hiccup his head trainer and rider-you'd have to talk to him about it." Astrid shrugged.

"But you're his wife, can't you say it's okay too?" Fishlegs arched a brow.

"You'll come to find out when Hiccup is chief that we run our island differently than most. And you'll see his changes will be like nothing you've ever seen before. Trust him-we've been doing this for seven years after all," Astrid smiled as she walked with the children towards the hall behind Stoick and Gobber's lead-Spitelout behind them. When all of them were in the hall and eating, Hiccup returned and joined his family. Stoick made the announcement that Hiccup would be taking over as chief in a couple months once the two Tribes became one-and the new members had stable places to live. No one seemed to mind it-they knew Hiccup would make a good chief with all he had done already, the biggest thing was building a village and Tribe from scratch and making peace with dragons. The rest of the night continued until about 9pm when Skywing Tribe returned to the ships to sleep, tomorrow would start the molding of two Tribes into one.

(Two Months Later)

As he had anticipated, two months time to build the new homes. Just like on Cloud Rider Isle-families stayed together and others would room together unless something changed in their marital statuses. Hiccup and Astrid had their own place, big enough for them and all their dragons. The foods were one of the first things to be taken care of so they didn't spoil-others would be continuing to plant. Stoick had yet to announce that Skywing Tribe members were now Hairy Hooligans-but that was because he felt like Hiccup would want the honor for when he was named chief later on. Today was the day after all where Hiccup became chief of Berk.

Astrid was now seven months pregnant, their next little one due in two months and Hiccup was stressing that she would go early again so he had her on full rest not wanting to take the chance. He had a lot going on already with taking over as chief and managing about the sixty two people from Skywing plus the members of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe-which reached about two hundred or so people, maybe more. It had grown some since when Hiccup and Astrid left seven years ago. Hiccup did spend quite a bit of time getting to know his little sister, Signy-she was adorable and honestly a little like him. Curious with a lot of spunk. Milla and her got along well because they were so close in age. Casper, Tore, and Hagen got along thankfully.

Otherwise the two Tribes mixed well, and Hiccup was thankfully for that. The dragons adapted very nicely, all living in the forest and helping out the villagers from time to time-a lot of people were actually curious about learning to bond and ride with them like the Skywing Tribe did-but no one seemed to have the nerves to ask Hiccup if he'd teach them because according to Astrid, Hiccup was the one to do all the teachings regarding that stuff. Everyone seemed to love how life was now-however, all wasn't perfect because the raids still happened and Hiccup could stop them when they arrived but he still needed to get to the bottom of what was causing them and as soon as he was chief-that was top his priority list. To discover the reason behind the raids because his dragons didn't do that.

All that aside, he wouldn't worry about it today. Currently he was in his house getting ready for the ceremony-he'd never had to do this before. When he became chief of Cloud Rider Isle, he literally just took over because he was voted to be chief since he had the status of being Heir to a chief, also that he and Astrid built the building that started the village in the first place. It made sense to just elect him chief-but on Berk he had to be initiated in as chief since Stoick was the chief right now. Something about laws again. Hiccup was wearing his chief attire only thing he had to change which took him a few minutes to accomplish was removing the Cloud Rider Isle crest on his belt and the metal piece that held on his cloak that hung down from his shoulder to represent the Hairy Hooligan tribe.

The rest of his attire was his black boots, black pants, the belt with a silver crest for Berk. His shirt was gray, he had on his dark gray armor and on the right shoulder pad was the symbol of the Night Fury only that was all black with one red tail fine-his representation of Toothless. His cloak was light gray-a wolf pelt that hung just to his knees, clipped in place with silver piece holding the Hairy Hooligan Tribe crest. He put the Cloud Rider Isle ones away-he'd never get rid of them, they served as a reminder of his accomplishments when he left Berk to find out who he was although he had a pretty good idea after meeting Toothless. Hiccup was now standing in front of the mirror looking over himself, he couldn't believe he was becoming chief of Berk in about fifteen minutes.

The ceremony was supposed to be easy, his father would say a few words and then Spitelout would make him take the oath of chieftainship before Gothi would draw the symbol of chief on his forehead. After that, he would face the people he was expected to protect-then there would be a feast and partying. Mead was sure to be involved since all the other chieftains were coming too-except Madguts. Hiccup refused to allow him to come-but he was allowed to send his second in command to bear witness to the occasion.

"Hiccup, are ya ready son?" Stoick asked knocking on the door to his house.

"Yeah, Dad. I am." Hiccup replied as he turned from the mirror downstairs and walked to the door, opening it slow to reveal himself to his father who stood proudly to seem him dressed so formally to take the position being given to him.

"Everyone is gathered in the hall. Astrid and your kids are sitting with my wife and children-well, daughter and I suppose unofficially adopted son." Stoick chuckled a bit referring to Casper.

"Well, I'm ready. Let's do this," Hiccup smiled. Stoick nodded as the two left the house and moved towards the hall which was just over to their left since Hiccup and Astrid's house was built right next to Stoick and Inga's. Reaching the hall in fifteen minutes, Stoick went first to get the room to settle and when Hiccup heard the silence-he took a deep breath and walked in slowly, keeping his forward while walking firmly. Hiccup stood before his father-their eyes met and a smile shared.

"Seven years ago, I never thought this day would come to pass-where I hand my title of chief to my eldest son, Hiccup. But here we are and there is no one who is more happy or proud than I. Today, my son becomes chief and becomes one of the greats who have ruled before him, doing his family proud. My son is a man of many things: inventor, artist, blacksmith, dragon trainer and rider, a husband, and a father. I know and as do many others that everything he does from this day forward will forever benefit the island, and Tribe. So without much more delay, I say we get this started. Spitelout?" Stoick smiled.

"Do you, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, swear by Odin, the heathen Gods to protect the island of Berk and the members of the Hairy Hooligan tribe even if it means risking your own life. Do you swear to do your best to lead your people to peace and prosperity as far as you're able too. Do you swear to cast aside all personal feelings, to place your people and village before you no matter the cost? Do you swear to uphold the duties given to you today?" Spitelout asked firmly.

"I solemnly swear to uphold the duties given to me today and forevermore," Hiccup responded in a serious tone. Stoick smiled proudly now as Spitelout stepped back and Gothi moved forward and used her hand to give Hiccup the motion to kneel-he did so of course. The left leg up while down on the right while his hands resting on his left knee with his head bowed to her. Gothi dipped her fingers in the small bowl of ash and swirled it around her fingers before handing the bowl to Stoick and she moved Hiccup's auburn bangs out of the way to draw the symbol: This symbol was a shallow semi circle, with a smaller one resting on top then a line through both and ended between his eye brows.

Gothi stepped back as Hiccup had opened his eyes, she smiled and bowed her head to him as Hiccup stood up now and gave his father a smile-the man now pulled something out from behind him, it was Hiccup's old helmet. The one his father gave him seven years ago when Stoick said how proud of him he was. "I want you to wear it as you lead these people into the future. I gave it to you because of how proud of you I was and I still am. No matter what you do, who you are or become...you will always be my son and I will always love you." Stoick put it on his head and stepped back, "Wear it proudly because have earned and deserve it."

"I will, Dad." Hiccup told him with a nod before he turned and faced the people gathered in the Great Hall.

"People of Berk, family, and guests. It is my esteemed pleasure to present the new chief: Hiccup the Useful Haddock!" Stoick announced happily. The room broke into applause and coming to their feet to cheer for him as he only smiled, finally it was over. He was chief of Berk and actually couldn't be happier about it. Hiccup raised his hands to settle everyone down now, he still had a job to do regarding Skywing Tribe and announcing who his mains were. The room relaxed and took their seats again.

"Well, I can't say I feel any different after being a chief the last six or so years," he began. He only said six years of chiefhood because he wasn't chief of Cloud Rider until others came and the Tribe formed. "But I will say that it's really good to be home and among you all again. Now, it hasn't been made official yet because my father thought I'd like the honor to do it. From this moment on, the members of the Skywing Tribe to Cloud Rider Isle are immediate members of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe to the Island of Berk." More cheering then they settled again. "Also, my second in command is Viggo Grimborn. My emissaries are Spitelout Jorgenson, Buffnut Thorston, and Boarlegs Ingerman. My council members are Stoick Haddock, Gobber, Corey Oliversen, Hella Sandav, Fishlegs Ingerman, and Albin Haugen. Lead guard is Ryker Grimborn and lead dragon trainer is Eret Reidi." Hiccup finished.

"What about us, Dad?" Tore asked with a laugh.

"Of course. I'd never forget you four, soon to be five. Come on over here," Hiccup smiled as the boys and Milla walked over and Astrid right behind them. "I present to you your chieftess of Berk and my beautiful wife, Astrid Haddock. And the Heirs to the island: Tore, Hagen, and Milla Haddock. The next Heir will be presented when he or she is born in two months." he said, the clapping continued. "And now, I think it's time we get this party started!" he called out as the room uproared with joy. Sure enough, the celebration had begun with music, food, and talking. It was gonna be a good night.


	24. Chapter 24

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 24**

~Hiccup's POV~

Two months in and I still couldn't believe I was back on Berk, with the people I started a Tribe with, my wife, and kids, and to top it all off-I was the chief of the island too. I was chief of the Hairy Hooligans, chief of two hundred and sixty-three people. It was still amazing to know. Seven years ago when Astrid and I left-we never had an intention of returning permanently. I had said in my letter we might meet again and sure enough, we did-but my father didn't know it was me until almost four years later. I still couldn't believe where I was now-it amazed me every day to wake up on Berk next to Astrid, then going downstairs and seeing our children waiting for breakfast-playing with their dragons. That was the biggest shocker, knowing the dragons resided on Berk and no one seemed to mind it one bit-maybe they even loved it.

For me, it never got old knowing how much had changed in so little time. Yeah seven years was a long time to most but to me it just flew by. I mean, right now Astrid is nine months pregnant and due any day-I couldn't wait for the baby to be here. I'd be a lot busier-but I didn't mind. At least I was never bored during my day. I love waking up every morning knowing I was chief, had wonderful family, and Tribe-that they all relied on me to keep them safe from harm. I had alliances with every Tribe except Murderus, I refused to work with him after what he did to Milla. The only think I allowed was him to send his second in command for traditional events that all chieftains took part in, the next biggest would be the birth of mine and Astrid's new child.

The village was running smoothly-just as it had back on Cloud Rider Isle, everyone loved my 'eat at home with families' idea, also the only taking a weeks worth of food and then replacing it so the stocks never fell low. We still kept to using the hall for meetings or large scale events-like we would use it for Milla's fifth birthday in two months. Astrid and I were excited about that, and the new baby would be with us too for that. Lives were perfect-I expected there would be some issues every now and then but regardless, I'd manage. The people I chose for certain jobs did them very well-I'd never been happier about my choices, honestly...it was like nothing ever changed except that I was back where I belonged with the people I cherished and would forever.

Today I was going to be up to my neck in food storage for the harsh winter that was coming. I had every hand available doing something to harvest, hunt, or fish. I was also having the builders start reinforcing the houses with glass-something I discovered on Cloud Rider Isle when Astrid and I began building seven years ago. And I introduced Berk to Gronckle Iron, something we were hammering extremely thing to support the walls of the houses to hold them steady on the wet, heavy snow and winds. Also, the metal would hold in the heat. I had made tons of improvements on Berk-the people loved it and I loved that they loved it. Made me feel good to know people like what I could do rather than hate it as they used too. It was funny actually, back then, I was known as Hiccup the Useless and now as chief-I'm Hiccup the Useful. Interesting turn, right?

Ah well, still loving life here. By far another one of my best decisions in life-for now, the sun would be rising in about twenty minutes and I had to force myself out of bed to start the day. Viggo would be meeting me outside after I fed the kids, I wanted Astrid to get as much rest as possible because she'd be giving birth soon. I had Anya, Eydis, and a few others coming to check on her during the day when I wasn't there. I hated leaving her there-but what could I do. I still had the village to run and with Toothless all day, if she needed anything then I could be at the house in minutes flat. After going to the washroom, I made it downstairs-but didn't see my children as I usually did. That was odd, normally they were up before me and I had to tell them to keep it down until Astrid woke up.

As the sun began to rise, they still hadn't come down so I moved back upstairs after I ate and checked their rooms. The boys still shared one, and Milla's was across the hall from Astrid's and mine. When I looked in on them, they appeared to all still be sleeping. I went into Milla's room and peeked at her, I don't know what possessed me to do it but I checked her forehead and she was really warm. At my touch, she stirred a bit and opened her eyes tiredly.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Hi princess. You and your brothers weren't downstairs for breakfast so I came to check on you," I smiled gently sitting at the edge of her bed and running my fingers through her light brown hair.

"My belly, head, and throat hurts..." Milla whimpered some.

"And you're warm too, I think you might be getting sick. Stay in bed for now, I'll call for Gothi or Eydis in a few minutes after I check on your brothers." I said lightly as I kissed her forehead and she nodded snuggling into the blanket again. I got up and moved to Tore and Hagen's room, both of them appeared to still be sleeping too.

"Boys?" I called softly.

"Sorry...we didn't come down. We were...earlier-but Milla started throwing up so we put her back to bed and then we started not feeling so great either," Hagen replied quietly.

"You two running a fever like she is?" I asked moving inside the room to check their foreheads. Yup, both were warm. "Stomachs, heads, and throats?" I inquired.

"My stomach and throat hurt," Tore responded.

"Stomach and head." Hagen nodded.

"Alright, I'm having Eydis or Gothi come over to check on all of you. Milla is having the same symptoms, I'm gonna check on your mother too-stay in bed." I told them, the boys meekly nodded and remained lying down as I moved to his and Astrid's bedroom to check on her. "Babe?" I asked, she grumbled some and opening her eyes. "Sorry I woke you, Love. The kids are sick and I wanted to see if you were too,"

"No, I feel fine. All three of them are sick?" Astrid while sitting up slowly and my help, I nodded to her.

"According to Tore and Hagen, Milla was sick first when they were downstairs with throwing up. After they put her back to bed, they started feeling sick-but haven't thrown up at all. They got same symptoms but not all share the same, if ya catch my my meaning. I'm about to get Eydis or Gothi in here to check on them," I told her.

"I'll keep an eye on them until one of them gets here. I know you have a busy day so I'll see you for lunch?" Astrid asked as she got out of bed now and kissed my cheek.

"Always. Love you!" I told her as I headed down the stairs and whistled for Toothless-who of course came right over to my side as we exited the house together to find Viggo standing right there. "Morning, Viggo." I greeted.

"Morning, chief. How was your night?" Viggo inquired.

"It was good. Morning could have gone better-the kids are all sick. They all got fevers, stomach and head pains, also throat. Milla has all three, Tore only has throat and stomach, Hagen has stomach and head." I sighed some rubbing my fingers between my eyes.

"The wife okay?" Viggo questioned.

"Yeah, thankfully she doesn't have it. Alright, let's get to work. First I need you to go to Eydis's and Gothi's and get one of them to drop by my house to check on the kids and find out what they have. Then come meet me at the store house-it's gonna be a long day." I told him.

"Right away, sir." Viggo nodded with a salute as he got on his Nadder, Sunflame, and took off towards Gothi's and Eydis's. The two shared a home and work space since Gothi was elder but healer too and Eydis was learning a lot from her. Hella became a teacher for the young kids until they hit their teen years-teaching them skills they'd need to know like sewing, cooking, farming, and more. She loved it because she loved kids and I thought it was the perfect place for her after they all left Cloud Rider Isle-which Hella had been the elder of originally. I took a deep breath as I got on Toothless and we took to the sky heading for the store house.

(After Lunch)

Long day indeed as I expected it would be. Thankfully the food storing was going well, it was just taking a long time to count out and sort everything making sure it'd last the winter. I was also having Viggo on handling the supply storing-which consisted of blankets, pillows, furs, wool, leathers, etc. I had to make sure we were ready for Winter. It was already getting colder and that promised a bad Winter for us. I had seen Astrid at lunch, poor thing was exhausted from trying to be there for all three kids in her condition of being nine months pregnant. Anya and Britta were over helping her though, it would seem they decided to keep all the kids in one room to watch them-smart idea if I say so myself. I told Astrid to take it easy and she promised she would-I believed her.

Lunch ended and I had to get back to work, there was still a lot to do before the day ended. My father was with me right now, giving me an extra set of hands because evidently he was bored. I didn't mind-I needed the help.

"How are the kids, son?" Stoick asked me.

"Still sick. Milla stopped throwing up and is sleeping, or was when I left. Tore threw up a few times, Hagen is in pain. Astrid is exhausted. I know she wants me there too," I sighed a bit.

"What did the healers say about the illness?" Stoick inquired now.

"Just some stomach thing, maybe mix of a cold too. We're keeping a watch for eel pox. I already sent three of my riders to gather the ingredients for the cure just in case. They should be back by dinner time," I replied to him.

"Ah, good man-staying on top of it." Stoick smiled.

"I'd rather be prepared for anything," I answered while counting the crates of meats and moving them to their spot.

"You really have done a great job as chief, Hiccup. I'll admit when I was wrong, I never should have doubted your abilities back then and one day you'd grow into the man you were meant to be. I'm sorry that I tried to make you be something you weren't, and that I never listened to you or was there when you needed me to be." Stoick said lowering his head some.

"Hey, we're past all that, Dad. Don't worry about it," I chuckled patting his back some.

"I know, Hiccup. But still, I'm yer father and I wasn't there for ya when you were younger...I should have been." Stoick told him.

"As far as I'm concerned about it, everything worked out the way it was supposed to be. We both got an eye opener and learned a few new things about ourselves and made changes to suit those things," I smiled, Stoick nodded to him as they got back to work.

(Few Hours Later)

~Normal POV~

The time was now 4:30pm or so, his riders were back with the cure for eel pox in case they needed it-they'd already taken it to Gothi so she could store it away. Everyone was preparing to close up shop for the night, make their way from jobs to homes for dinner at 5pm. Hiccup was still working of course-he was known for being late to get home because his job as chief was to secure the island and make sure everything was as it should be. Meanwhile in town, Astrid was slowly making her way to the healer hut to get something for Milla to help settle her stomach-the boys were feeling a bit better and their fevers had dropped thankfully but not Milla. However, Astrid was in a lot of pain too and her steps were slow, each one made her wince.

Her breathing was labored and her hand was over her pregnant belly-without warning, she suddenly stopped and panted hard, knees weakening as she tried to keep herself up. Astrid tried to breathe through the pain but it wasn't working as it had all day, she took another step towards her destination and froze feeling a gush of water run down her legs. Astrid's eyes widened in fear, her water just broke.

"Chieftess Asty?" came a small voice beside her, it was Signy-Stoick and Inga's child. "Are you okay?" she asked tilting her head to the side curiously.

"Signy, haven't I told you not to run ahea-" Inga paused seeing the pain Astrid appeared to be in, "Astrid dear, are you alright?" Inga asked now.

"N-no...m-my water...just, ow, broke..." Astrid whimpered some, Inga rushed over to support her so she wouldn't fall.

"Signy, find your big brother, quickly sweetheart. Tell him he needs to come near Gobber's as fast as he can," Inga instructed her daughter, Signy nodded and rushed off to find Hiccup. "It's alright, Astrid. Deep breaths now, let's lay you down so you don't fall..." the woman offered as she took off her outer piece and set it down on the ground and then laid Astrid on it.

(With Hiccup)

He had just finished the last of the vegetables and wiped the sweat from his brow, he checked it off the list and smiled. Almost done, just the fruits left-he could finish within an hour or so for sure.

"Chief, we have a problem." Ryker said as he reached the door frame of the store house, Hiccup turned quickly to see him holding Signy in his arms.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked right away.

"Signy found me and begged me in a panic to find out," Ryker shrugged.

"Signy, tell big brother what's wrong please?" Hiccup looked at Signy now coming closer.

"Mama said to find you, and tell you to come to Gobber's as soon as you can. She's with Asty in the middle of the road cuz Asty said her...um...something broke." Signy told him the best she could. Hiccup's eyes widened, Astrid was in the middle of the road and her water broke?!

"Take Signy to my father, summon Gothi or Eydis straight away." Hiccup commanded firmly, Ryker rushed off as Hiccup got on Toothless and they took to sky-thankfully finding Inga and Astrid was easy when you flew a fast dragon so when he flew over he saw the scene of Astrid laying on the ground with Inga beside her. Hiccup landed and jumped off Toothless to get to his wife. "Astrid, what happened?"

"Milla...said her stomach...started hurting, ow, again. Anya and...Britta had to leave so I...came out to...get the medicine for her from the healer hut..." Astrid cried.

"Her water broke chief Hiccup, about ten fifteen minutes ago now. Where's Signy?" Inga asked.

"I had Ryker take her to my dad. Gods, babe, you knew not to move around a lot to avoid this..." Hiccup sighed in defeat, he knew Astrid would do anything to help the children-even if she had to do it herself. Hiccup kissed her forehead and held her hand. "It's okay...it's okay. Eydis or Gothi should be on their way soon." he informed.

"Hiccup, we can't move her. She's in full blown labor, I can feel the head of the baby already-when I checked her with her permission...she already told me she feels like she has to push, we might not have time to wait for Gothi or Eydis to arrive..." Inga whispered to him as his eyes widened a bit more now. That wasn't good if they couldn't move Astrid so she could deliver the baby safely in the healer's hut. What was worse, people were starting to gathering wondering what was wrong with their chieftess. This included her parents, and his father.

"Son, what's going on?" Stoick asked first.

"Astrid's water broke and according to Inga...we can't move her without hurting the baby. Astrid is gonna have to give birth, right here in town..." Hiccup said, clearly worried and afraid but holding it together well. "I sent Ryker to get Gothi or Eydis but they aren't here yet and Astrid feels like she has to push..." now the panic was showing.

"Alright, deep breaths chief...it's gonna be alright." Gobber said patting his shoulder.

"Chief, we have a problem..." Viggo stated quickly landing on his Nadder. "Ryker can't find Eydis and Gothi is with the Svendson's delivering their baby with Hella." Oh because he needed this right now that the only three women in the village who could help him were busy! Two busy and one unlocated. "He's on Blastburn now trying to find her from the sky. I sent Sigmund and Folke to help him. How's the chieftess?" As soon as he had asked, Astrid yelled out in pain.

"How does she sound?...Gods...dammit. Alright-then I don't have a choice." Hiccup sighed as his father and Astrid's parents were looking at him confused. "Toothless, wing barrier." he said as Toothless stood on his back legs and spread out his forty eight foot wings to shield Astrid and Hiccup from sight. Sunflame got the picture and crouched a bit to block the other side, Inga had stepped out before it happened and now they were all left wondering what was going on. "Viggo, warm water, towels, and a clean knife washed in boiling hot water if you wouldn't mind my friend."

"Yes chief!" he saluted and rushed off to do as he was told.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid asked when she saw Hiccup lift her legs a bit and remove her leggings and underwear.

"The baby isn't going to wait for the others, Astrid...you're having her or him right now and I'm gonna help..." Hiccup told her as a few people outside the dragon wing barrier gasped at what he said.

"Son, that's not allowed. Men are forbidden for the birthing process, it's always been that way..." Stoick reminded.

"Maybe while you were chief. On my island when I'm in charge, I'm allowed." Hiccup retorted as he checked Astrid to see the baby's head there.

"You don't know how to deliver a baby, lad." Gobber added in.

"There's a lot about me you still don't know. Alright baby, when Viggo gets back with the things, you're gonna start pushing okay? Everything will be just fine, I promise...Do you trust me?" Hiccup asked putting his hand out to her. Astrid smiled nodded as she grabbed it. "I love you."

"I love you too, Hiccup...Gods, it hurts so much!" she cried out wincing.

"Got what you asked for chief, can I enter?" Viggo asked, Toothless looked at Hiccup-who nodded and then he moved his wing. Astrid was covered by Hiccup's wolf pelt cloak. Viggo set the things down and stepped back slowly. "Can I do anything to help?"

"Gather some of the guards and keep everyone back for me," Hiccup told him, he nodded and left. "Ready to bring our baby into the Hooligan Tribe?" he asked her with a calm smile even though he was nervous himself. Astrid nodded to him weakly, "Push then," Astrid pushed hard, taking deep breaths in between-it took about thirteen good pushes and a loud cry filled the area as it fell silent when it was heard. Astrid yelled out at the relief when the final push was given, her head fell back on the towel Hiccup had placed there as she smiled panting. Hiccup took the towel and wrapped them around the baby after he had cut the cord. Hiccup had calmed the child down and Toothless lowered his wings to adjust so Astrid could lay against him while she fed the newborn-a light blanket to shield the sight from others.

"You know, we never picked a name..." Astrid said smiling softly.

"I think I know the perfect one..." Hiccup smiled. Everyone was watching and wondering when they'd get to find out if this baby was male or female-and of course the name. About twenty minutes more and the baby had fallen asleep. Hiccup carefully lifted Astrid onto Toothless while he took the baby from her. "Gather round everyone, I have an announcement to make..." he said proudly. Even Tore and Hagen-who was carrying Milla were outside now and worried for their mother. "So, for those who don't know what happened: Astrid's water broke and labor start really fast. Our healers weren't available so I delivered the baby myself. Here and now to you all, I'd like to present another Heir to the Tribe, and also welcome this child, my son, into the Hairy Hooligan Tribe on this day as he will be known as Destin Haddock." he announced.

It was a boy and his name was Destin! Everyone was overjoyed and beyond happy at the news, there was sure to be celebrations after Astrid recovered more and the other chieftains were notified of the birth. After the cheering wore down, everyone on Hiccup's orders returned home to eat dinner, Hiccup took his family home too as they all ate and relaxed. Tore, Hagen, and Milla were thrilled to have a baby brother now-also decided that night was that Hiccup and Astrid were done having kids. Two adopted and two blood children were more than enough for them. They were a very happy family-more than that they were a happy Tribe all in all. It was a very happy life for everyone on the Isle of Berk.


	25. Chapter 25

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 25**

~Normal POV~

Milla was turning five years old today! Hiccup and Astrid were excited, and more so because little Destin was two months old and the happiest little boy in the entire village. Two weeks after Destin's birth-Hiccup sent Spitelout, Buffnut, and Boarlegs out to send word to the other Tribes about it-they of course sent gift back with the emissaries for the child and their congratulations too. There was a party held to celebrate Destin's birth for the whole village in the Great Hall with tons of food and enjoyment for all. People getting to hold Destin, admire him-and even the other chieftains came out for a few days to see him too. That was a good day all over and now it was time for Milla's party, everyone was waiting to enjoy the party which was to be held later on around dinner time. Astrid, Anya, Sylvia, Stilsta, and Britta were all working with some of the guys on the party while Hiccup was working on still storing food.

The twins would be turning sixteen in two more months-about a week before Snoggletog, then Hiccup and Astrid turning twenty five three month later when harsh Winter would be ending. Hiccup had anyone not doing a specific 'prepare for Winter' job-working on the birthday party for Milla, it would be her first one on Berk and everything one excited to celebrate the first blood Heir's fifth birthday all together. It brought Hiccup a good feeling. They'd been on Berk for six months since he made his choice to take over as chief there-still one of the best decisions he'd ever made. Every choice he made since shooting down Toothless had been great and led to something more amazing than the moment before. Peace with dragons, married with kids, had his father in his life, was living on Berk with it all-nothing beat it.

The time of day was just after lunch, Hiccup working on storing all the things brought in the day before with a few others. There was a lot more work for him being chief of Berk but only because there were more people to handle and Berk was a little bigger than Cloud Rider Isle was. More to manage and take care of-it had it's fair share of frustrations and stresses, Hiccup had passed out once or twice due to it piling up and sadly what caused all that was just villagers fighting with one another and Hiccup made it clear if anyone else fought instead of coming to see him or sorting it civilly he would assign them to wild dragon wrangling in the forest. This was a task no one wanted because well, they were wild dragons and no one but Astrid, Eret, and Hiccup were trained for it.

Eret was still lead trainer but Hiccup was the head trainer and in charge of wrangling the dragons to the academy-which was the old kill ring. Hiccup and Eret would train them, and then both be present for bonding and flying-Eret would handle the flier classes after the bonding process. Eret continued to train the dragons when class wasn't in session, teaching them verbal commands that the student would know to give-but Hiccup wouldn't allow them to learn how to train the dragons. He didn't want the information getting out-not ever since Madguts admitted to eavesdropping on Gobber, Astrid, and Hiccup and learned who they really were. The truth he knew about dragons, how to train them, he trusted that with a few people. Not even the old Skywing members knew. Hiccup, Astrid, Eret, Viggo, Ryker, Tore, and Hagen knew. That was it. There wasn't a lot of training to be done because some were still hesitant to riding dragons-it was a lot to suddenly accept into an every day life.

Hiccup didn't blame them, he knew it would take time to adjust to having the dragons around-but also, there was another factor. The dragon raids. Unfortunately, as good as Hiccup was-he couldn't stop them all. Having Toothless now helped out but it still didn't stop them from coming back. Something else was going on, Hiccup was sure about it after watching the raids over and over again the last six months. He observed them, and helped out of course-it was his job as chief to protect the village. Hiccup would figure out the answer, he just needed a clue, something he could follow and investigate. That was his main focus right now-but there were still other duties he had to take care of, he couldn't shirk them over raids. One of today's biggest jobs was Milla's birthday party-he wouldn't ruin that.

It was odd-in this sense involving raids, Hiccup was like his father now. Wanting to find the source of the problem and end the raids but Hiccup didn't want to kill them. He wasn't a dragon killer-he knew he wasn't. He wouldn't worry about it right now, there was too many other things to worry about with bad Winter starting in two months. Honestly, today he was starting to feel sick but didn't know why. That was all he needed right now...Not. Hiccup bent over and moved another crate to the shelf, he panted a bit putting a hand to his forehead, he could tell he was running a fever or maybe that was because he'd been working in the underground store house for three hours by himself moving and organizing thing.

"Ugh...Gods, I hate this." he groaned to himself closing his eyes, Toothless was lying down there with him on the ground watching his rider do all this work. Toothless crooned softly to him, "I'm okay bud...just a little tired," Hiccup rubbed Toothless's head slowly. Hiccup went to move another box but stopped a moment, he put a hand over his stomach and forced back throwing up, it happened again as he found an empty bucket and threw up in that-coughing hard and gagging a bit. Toothless was beside him instantly, worried again. Hiccup wiped his mouth after ten minutes and just flopped back against the wall panting a bit. Toothless didn't like how sick his friend was so he took action.

Toothless growled a bit as he climbed up the ramp to the main store house above, he exited and looked around for anyone who could help-in a stroke of luck he saw Viggo and Ryker walking together and their dragons beside them. Toothless let out a roar to get their attention, the dragons stopped-consequently stopping the Grimborn brothers as well.

"Toothless?" Ryker asked, "Where's Hiccup?" Toothless gave a worried warble and motioned with his head inside the store house, they followed him down to where Hiccup was-seeing him against the wall holding his arms and shivering almost, trying to keep from throwing up it looked like.

"Chief, are ya alright?" Viggo asked.

"Yeah, I'm...fine..." he coughed out as Toothless smacked Hiccup in the head with his tail and huffed shaking his head so the brothers would know he wasn't okay.

"You're sick, chief. Come on, let's get you home. I can finish things in here for you-I'm done with my duties for the day," Viggo offered.

"No, it's...m-my job..." Hiccup argued.

"It's your job to be at your strongest and healthiest to protect us, it's our job to make sure you can do just that. You need to rest for awhile-you've been going nonstop for days," Ryker informed. "And you don't wanna be sick for Milla's party, do you?" Hiccup sighed, that was right. It was in just a few hours around dinner time, he did feel terrible and was tried. Maybe a little time sleeping would make him feel better. Finally, he just nodded to them as they helped him up slow and out of the store cave, then the store house and taking him to his house. Astrid wasn't home, no one was so it would give him time to rest up.

"Don't worry about a thing chief, we got it. You focus on you for once," Viggo told him, Hiccup nodded again as the two left him in the house alone with Toothless. Hiccup went upstairs to his room and took off his cloak, armor, and boots before lying on the bed and instantly falling asleep about two minutes after.

(Dinner Time)

Being the party was tonight, dinner was held as a Tribe in the Great Hall so that is where everyone was gathering right now. Astrid was already there with the kids, most of the Tribe was in there too-except for Hiccup. He was still at home sleeping or attempting to sleep off the sickness he seemed to of contracted from Thor only knew where. An hour after falling asleep, he threw up a few more times. He laid awake for a good twenty minutes before throwing up again, he was considering going to see Gothi or Eydis about it but couldn't really move without wanting to hurl so he stayed put in bed. In the hall, everyone had arrived there-last to enter was Viggo and Ryker where Astrid hurried over to them to ask if they knew where Hiccup was. After all, Viggo was Hiccup's second in command, he had to know where he was, right?

"Viggo, where's Hiccup?" Astrid inquired softly.

"Oh, he should still be at home my chieftess. We took him there shortly after lunch because he was sick." Ryker told her gently.

"Sick? How sick?" Stoick asked now coming beside Astrid.

"From what we saw, shivering, feverish, and throwing up. We don't know how bad it is, Toothless is the one who got our attention and brought us into the underground store house to find Hiccup sitting on the floor against the wall with his hands over his stomach. We took him home and told him to get some sleep," Viggo replied with the full explanation now.

"I'll go see how he's feeling," Astrid said as she adjusted Destin in her arms then left the hall and walked across to get to their house. Getting inside, she moved up the stairs and saw Hiccup in the bedroom lying down on the best. Of course when Hiccup heard the door open, he sat up slightly. "Hey...how are you feeling, babe?"

"Better than before. Haven't thrown up in two hours, got a little sleep..." he answered with a yawn.

"Feel up to joining the party?" Astrid asked softly.

"It's that time already?" Hiccup asked while putting his legs over the side of the bed and coughed a few times as Astrid nodded to him. "Well, I don't think I'd be a good father if I didn't show up for my own daughter's birthday party." he tried to chuckle some but his stomach still hurt. Finally he got to his feet and stretched some while heading to the washroom to splash his face and wake up a little more. After all that was done, he gave his wife a smile and they exited the room, then the house after going down the stairs together and going over to the hall where everyone was waiting.

"Son, how do you feel?" Stoick asked.

"Mind your distance so you don't get sick, Dad..." Hiccup told him and Stoick nodded. Milla rushed over to hug him, completely unaware he was sick too so she slammed into him hard and he fought throwing up again, he got lower and hugged her back. "Happy Birthday, princess." he said after catching his breath.

"Thank you, Daddy." Milla giggled lightly as she kissed his cheek, then pulled back and frowned some. "Your cheek is warm...are you sick, Daddy?"

"A little-but not too sick to miss my little's girl's party. Go run along and play now, I don't want you getting sick too." Hiccup smiled at her as she nodded and hurried off to keep playing with Signy-who was technically her half aunt and younger than Milla. Pretty comical concept in truth. Hiccup got to his feet and looked around, nothing could beat this for sure. Now that he had arrived, the party started with light music and people eating. The kids were all running around happily and stopping at their tables to eat bites in between. Hiccup took a few bites of his own food-then stopped when he felt like puking again. Of anything else he hated, being sick was one of them.

(Hour Later)

Everyone was having a good time in the hall for the party, Hiccup stayed pretty quiet and in his seat watching it all. He was tired and wanted to go back to sleep-but he wouldn't miss his daughter's party, he couldn't and wouldn't allow himself too. She'd gotten a lot of toys and clothes so far-but the night was far from over. Hiccup closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened them again-Milla was beside him smiling wide.

"Hi princess, having fun?" Hiccup smiled at her.

"Yes, Daddy. I wanted to ask you something," she paused a moment as Hiccup leaned closer to her, "Can I dance with you?" Hiccup chuckled a bit and nodded as he got up slowly and took her hand and led her towards the somewhat center of the room. Hiccup bent a little and picked her up in his arms as they slowly started dancing. Astrid's heart just about melted watching the scene of Hiccup dancing with their only daughter. She was his princess, and definitely a Daddy's girl. Milla was almost the spitting image of Hiccup, even her eyes had more green than the blue and her personality was his: kind, caring, strong willed, inventive, curious. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, baby girl." Hiccup replied as she laid her head on his chest and he smiled. How could he get more blessed than this right here? He couldn't be. This was perfection in his eyes. Good home and Tribe. Amazing wife and children. He loved it all. The dance went on for about five minutes before they rubbed noses and hugged tightly-then he put her down and she ran to continue playing. Hiccup chuckled some as he went to go sit down again-but a noise stopped him and he looked towards the doors to listen closer, putting a hand up to make everyone be quiet. Hiccup moved to the door and opened it to see dragons flying around, raiding. "I so don't need this tonight. Everyone stay inside, Toothless, let's go bud." Toothless darted over to him as Hiccup climbed on his back.

"You're not gonna handle it alone are you?" Astrid asked with worry.

"I'm the only one who can, babe. Viggo, Eret, Ryker...grab your dragons-time to corral them and send them off." Hiccup ordered.

"Yes chief!" they replied as they stepped outside and gave a whistle to their dragons-who in turn rushed over at the call. With everyone mounted up, they too to the sky.

"Viggo, take North. Ryker-South. Eret-East. I got West. Circle formation," Hiccup called out. They nodded and headed to their respected spot beginning to do what they had to in order to group the dragons together and having them flying in a circle. When that was done half an hour later, Hiccup hovered in the center of the circle as Toothless began to glow blue and let out a massive roar, the dragons broke the circle and began flying towards the West-all of them did and it got Hiccup thinking about it. _'Why do they all go one place?...I wonder...'_ Making a decision last minute-he landed by the hall.

"Made quick work of that, son. Well done," Stoick smiled.

"Viggo, you're in charge until I get back." Hiccup suddenly said as it fell somewhat quiet wondering where he planning to go.

"Hiccup, where are you going?" Astrid asked him.

"I'm gonna take Toothless and follow the dragons-see what I can find. They all went that way, if I can follow them-maybe I figure out what's causing the raids. Toothless is the fastest and can blend in with the night sky, this is my chance to get to the bottom of why the raids happen-I'm taking it. I should be back by morning. Viggo is in charge until I return." Hiccup said.

"But you're sick, Dad..." Tore pointed out.

"My chiefing and protecting the village takes top priority boys-you'll understand that one day." Hiccup said firmly. Now he looked back to his wife and offered a smile, "This could be my chance to find out what's causing raids, Astrid. I have to take it. I promise I won't be gone long..."

"Alright, just...be safe. Please?" Astrid pleaded, Hiccup nodded as he kissed her cheek, then Destin's forehead. He kissed Milla's cheek, and following that was the top of Tore's and Hagen's heads.

"Love you," he told them as Astrid smiled.

"I love you too." she replied.

"Love you, Dad." Tore, Hagen, and Milla smiled to him. Hiccup patted Toothless's neck and the dragon crooned at him as he spread his wings and took to the sky-heading West and following the pack of thirty dragons.

(Flying With Toothless)

He had been flying close to two hours since leaving Berk, on Toothless it was easy because they really just glided on the wind rather than fly. They were staying about a mile behind the pack of dragons, and closing in on a lot of fog around them. Suddenly the dragons began to dive down-and Hiccup already noticed they were surrounded by others who hadn't been in the pack, some with kills or things they had taken when raiding other islands. Hiccup leaned forward to keep himself against Toothless in an attempt to blend in with him so the other dragons wouldn't notice him. Hiccup looked closely ahead of them to see a massive volcano island in front of them.

"It's the nest..." he whispered as Toothless crooned in response, giving an affirmative nod. Hiccup was confused a moment, did Toothless know about this? It would make sense, Hiccup shot him down during a raid-this must be the nest then. Toothless flew in following the dragons there, "Dad would never have found this place by ship, it's an air entrance..." he said to no one in particular. His father searched for the nest countless times, he never found it because of all the fog surrounding the island-it wasn't really fog, it was ash and smoke from the volcano. Something Hiccup did notice that seemed off was the amount of ships docked there, did human live here?

Toothless followed the dragons in through the narrow caves, and then they exited into what appeared to be the heart of the island-where the carona of the volcano rested. Hiccup saw a lot more than he expected to aside from dragons. He saw people, Vikings lived here. Toothless landed on a high point and the two of them looked down to observe what they could. There were...small caves-like what he had on Cloud Rider Isle. Looking farther down, there was something sitting in the lava but too much smoke to see it clearly. Hiccup noticed the dragons were dropping all the food down the hole.

"Satisfying to know everything is being dropping into a fiery pit..." he mumbled quietly. One of the final dragons to fly in was a Gronckle-it coughed up a single fish and dropped it down. A roar was heard as the other dragons seemed to wince in fear and back up out of sight. Toothless did too, something big was down there-Hiccup could feel it. The Gronckle looked down as a massive head emerged and bit over the Gronckle with it's massive jaws. Hiccup's eyes widened, right away he saw the head frill, the three eyes on each side of it's head. This thing was massive! The dragon just ate the Gronckle in one bite. Hiccup couldn't believe it.

"That's it, defeat those weaker..." came a deep voice, Hiccup looked quickly to see a man standing on a ledge by the dragon's head at it's level. "You and I will conquer this world, all Vikings will bow and fear us my pet. As long as I have you, they'll never laugh at Drago Bludvist again." the man laughed. Hiccup watched as the man lowered his hand and the dragon did as it was told. Now it made sense to him what was going on: the dragons raided because they were forced to by this what appeared to be an alpha dragon of the nest. And the dragon took orders from this man who called himself Drago Bludvist. He was the cause of everything, he wanted to conquer people-wanted revenge. This whole island was this man's base.

"We need to tell the others about this, Toothless..." Hiccup whispered, suddenly the dragon's eyes narrowed and it began to sniff around before rising and taking a snap at the ledge Hiccup and Toothless were sitting on. "Come on, we gotta get outta here!" he urged his dragon as it took to the sky. The other dragons got scared and began to take off and leave the nest. "Go bud, go!" he pleaded. Toothless shot out following the dragons and started back for Berk.

(Berk: An Hour Later)

Everyone was still in the Great Hall. The time was only 9pm, and the party ending very soon. Hiccup got to the hall and walked inside with Toothless following him.

"Hiccup, you're back!" Astrid said quickly rushing over to him but as she neared him she saw his displeased and concerned face. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"Did you find what you were looking for, chief?" asked Ryker.

"Oh, I did. I found the nest." everyone gasped-now all attention on him, "And I'm not lying when I say we have a colossal problem on our hands." Hiccup stated-still trying to recover from the shock of everything he had seen at the nest. There was a vengeful man commanding a colossal dragon who controlled the other dragons. The only way to stop the raids was to defeat this dragon and capture the man, Hiccup knew that right away-but his question remained as to if he could. This was going to take some serious planning.


	26. Chapter 26

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 26**

~Normal POV~

Everyone was confused when Hiccup suddenly returned two hours after leaving, looking concerned and maybe even a little mad, and saying he found the nest-also that there was a colossal problem on their hands. What did that mean?! What had he seen when he was out there. Of course, Hiccup was still sick and panting hard. Viggo got him a cup of water in hopes it would calm him down some. Eret and Ryker helped him get to his chair so he could sit down-clearly he was lost in thought. Milla was worried for her father, she left her mother's side and climbed in Hiccup's lap looking up at home with concern in her blue-green eyes.

"Papa?" Milla asked putting her hands on his cheeks, "What's wong?" she asked him.

"It's nothing, princess. Just more work for Daddy to do tomorrow-or maybe the next few weeks. Did you have a good party?" he asked forcing a smile.

"Yes, Daddy. Now I'm sweepy," she yawned tiredly as he chuckled.

"Well, best be getting you to bed then-shouldn't we? But first, I don't think I gave you my present to you..." Hiccup told her as he pulled something out from under his armor, it was a leather braided necklace-thin with a gold dragon pendant, the dragon being a Gronckle-the eye of it being a purple stone since it was Milla's favorite color and the background was all runes.

"It's so pwetty!" Milla's eyes lit up. "Can you put it on me?" Hiccup nodded as he placed it around her neck and tied it off. "You're the bestest, Daddy in the whole world." she hugged him tightly.

Hiccup chuckled a bit, "I'm your only Daddy." Hiccup reminded her.

"That's why your the bestest and your my Daddy forever." Milla exclaimed, Hiccup hugged her back.

"Yes I will be. Now it's time for all children under eighteen to get to bed. Tore, Hagen-will you take Milla to bed and tuck her in for your mother and I. There's a little business to take care of before we come home." Hiccup asked them.

"Yes, father." Hagen said as they took Milla out of the hall, other parents went to put their kids to bed as well.

"Hiccup, what did you find at the nest?" Astrid asked once the hall was clear of children.

"A colossal problem, babe. It's a massive dragon controlling the smaller ones-like this dragon has six eyes, three on each side. It lives in a volcano that rests on an island clouded by ash and fog. It eats dragons that don't bring back enough food for it. And what is worse...this thing is being controlled by a man who calls himself, Drago Bludvist." Hiccup stated and then he saw Stoick flinch a bit and back up.

"Drago Bludvist?" Stoick asked to confirm.

"Yeah. Heard him say it himself. He's building an army to conquer people, he controls the raids. This dragon, it's...like an alpha. It controls the dragons and Dragon controls the alpha. I heard him say specifically: _you and I will conquer this world, all vikings will bow and fear us my pet. They will never laugh at Drago Bludvist again_." Hiccup recited, now he saw his father's fear filled eyes as he stood up firmly. "Wait a second, do you know this guy?"

"Not personally, no..." his father trailed off as Hiccup narrowed his eyes a bit.

"Dad! Do you know the guy or not!" Hiccup raised his voice.

"It was a very long time ago, son. I never thought I'd hear of him again after that horrid day..." Stoick said.

"You knew there was a psychopath out there who could control dragons?" Hiccup asked.

"I didn't...know he could control them this much-to raid levels, Hiccup..." Stoick replied quickly.

"How do you know, Drago, Dad." Hiccup asked with his arms over his chest.

"It was a long time ago at a chieftain gathering-discussing the dragon scourge we all faced. A stranger, Drago came into the hall and said he was a man of the people, and could control the dragons-if we chose to bow down to him. We laughed, and he wrapped himself in his cloak while saying 'then see how well you do without me'. After that, armed dragons descended on the hall, burning it to the ground...I...was the only one to escape alive." Stoick explained.

"Explains why he said no one would laugh at him again. I cannot believe you wouldn't tell me something like this-I've been searching for answers since I became chief as to why the raids were happening! You searched for the nest and answers countless times over the years, wondering about the raids and this never clicked in your mind that the reason the raids were happening only to viking inhabited islands was because of the guy you pissed off by laughing at him? Now he's out there looking for revenge with a very large dragon that controls the others ones!" Hiccup scolded almost.

"I'm...sorry, Hiccup. It...never crossed my mind that it could be his doing..." Stoick lowered his head.

"He has an entire base built into the volcano. Filled with thousands of dragons, and hundreds of men. And what makes it bad is he now knows someone else was there. The dragon sniffed out Toothless and I, made a snap for us and we flew off with the rest of the dragons-I saw him look right at me with a smirk." Hiccup sighed closing his eyes-then started coughing again. "It's almost 9:30pm-everyone back to their houses. I need to figure out what to do about this..." Hiccup stood up now and walked away, Toothless following him.

"Hiccup, you need to be resting..." Astrid mentioned.

"I'll return home soon. I need to think for a while," Hiccup disappeared behind the doors as Astrid sighed some with a nod.

"You heard the chief, everyone back home." Viggo ordered firmly. Slowly and still all very confused, people began to leave the hall and return to their homes. A few of the guards helped clean up everything-then moved to do their nightly duties. Astrid made it home to say goodnight to the kids, then she sat in the main room waiting for Hiccup to get home-which he did an hour later, closer to 11pm.

"There you are," she sighed in relief getting up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just...I don't even know. I've got a vengeance determined guy who control a very big dragon, that can control lesser dragons to raid and I have no idea how to handle it..." Hiccup plopped down.

"Perhaps we try and talk to him?" Astrid offered.

"I think he's past talking..." Hiccup sighed.

"Then what do we do, we can't let it continue. Let's take our dragons out there and fight," Astrid tried.

"No way. Toothless got slightly distracted by the big dragon-I think he's affected by her control too. Not a lot-but enough. I don't want to involve the other dragons if I don't have to, they could fall under it's control and turn on us," Hiccup stated thinking hard again. "But I do agree we need to fight back...question is how when he controls a dragon that can control others..." Hiccup trailed off still trying to figure it out. "I may need to sit down with the other chieftains about this one, and the council-see what they all think we should do." he sighed.

"Well, it's been a long day. Let's get some sleep and we can figure this out tomorrow morning." Astrid suggested, Hiccup nodded. He still felt sick and maybe a good night's sleep would do him some good. The two of them moved up to their room and got into bed, Astrid fed Destin quickly and put him back to sleep before the two of them slowly drifted off as well.

(The Next Morning)

As with the usual, Hiccup was up first and thankfully feeling a lot better. He got himself bathed and ready for the day, met his family downstairs for breakfast-although he stayed pretty quiet to think about the current situation involving Drago and the large dragon behind the raids. It was easy to deduce that if they overpowered the two or defeated them-safe to say the dragons would be free of being controlled. The question was, how did they do just that?

"Any thoughts on what you're going to do?" Astrid asked him.

"Not yet," he sighed some. After eating, he met Viggo outside and summoned his three emissaries: Spitelout, Boarlegs, and Buffnut. Ryker was with them too-because Hiccup asked him to come.

"You called chief?" they asked him.

"You three are gonna go out to the other Tribes and bring them here. Only chieftains and their second in commands. No Heir's. You tell them I found the nest and it is something we all need to discuss. I expect them here two weeks." Hiccup said firmly.

"Chief, that's...impossible. It takes up to a few days or more to reach the island and then sail back. That's depending on weather too..." Boarlegs reminded.

"I'm aware. That's why you're riding on a dragon. You'll be spending the day with Eret and learning how to ride a dragon, tomorrow morning at sunrise, you're heading out. I'll mark where I want you headed," Hiccup told them.

"Yes sir," they nodded.

"Good, off to the academy then with you." Hiccup said, they rushed off and Hiccup sighed looking up at the sky-he just hoped they could come to an agreement about how to handle this. Without wasting more time, he and Viggo got to work on their duties for the day.

(Next Morning; Sunrise)

Spitelout had a male Nadder named Beamstrike, Boarlegs had a female Gronckle he named Lavashot, and finally Buffnut had a female Nadder he called Sunspark. Of course Ryker had Burnblast all saddled and ready to go. "Listen up. Ryker, you're going to Peaceable, then rerouting up to the Murderus Mountains. Spitelout, you're going to Berserk and Waterlands. Buffnut, you're headed to Meathead and Outcast. Boarlegs, to Hysteria and Bog. You give them the message and then return. Flying should only take you a day at best, then they have the extra time to sail here."

"Yes chief!" they all said while getting on their dragons.

"Good, then get moving. And Ryker, you warn Madguts if he starts with me...my promise stands: I'll kill him." Hiccup warned.

"My esteemed pleasure, chief Hiccup." Ryker grinned as they all headed off in the directions they were assigned to go to. Hiccup moved on to start his duties for the day.

(Two Weeks Later)

All the riders returned the next day around lunch time, all confirming that the chieftains were coming with their second in commands. Now it was two weeks later and Gunvor from Peaceable as well as Meathead chieftains had arrived a week ago. Now it was the end of two weeks as Madguts and Dagur arrived last. This was the only time Hiccup was allowing Madguts on Berk-Astrid and the kids were told to stay away from the Great Hall during the meeting unless it was an emergency. With everyone finally arriving and in the Great Hall, the meeting could start.

"Chief Hiccup, what is all this about now finding the nest. We've all tried many times and it was pointless," Oyvind of Waterlands said first once the doors were shut.

"In fairness, you didn't have a dragon." Hiccup retorted. The rest remained quiet now to let Hiccup explain, obviously he knew more than they did on dragons so best to listen to him. "Now, allow me to explain what happened..." Hiccup took a breath and began to explain everything about how two weeks before on Milla's fifth birthday party-a raid occurred around 7pm and though he handled it, an idea struck him to follow the dragons in hopes of finding out what was causing the raids. Thinking maybe it was a land issue they could assist with. Hiccup told them about everything he saw and heard at the nest, the chieftains were shocked to say the least to hear of it all.

"So this man is controlling the raids-we must put a stop to it. We can storm the base and take him down," Madguts stated first.

"I don't believe it be wise to storm the base when there are thousands of dragons, hundreds of men, and a really big dragon we know nothing about," Mogadon rolled his eyes.

"Hiccup, what to we know about this dragon?" Asgeir of Hysteria inquired curiously.

"Well, I didn't get much time to observe it given it sniffed Toothless and I out and we had to make a fly out pretty quick to avoid being eaten. But it's got three pairs of eyes, massive head frill...I drew this off memory but I haven't seen the rest and honestly, I don't think I want too." Hiccup admitted to them as he took the drawing out and showed them from his view what this dragon look like.

"I think, chief, we can guess this dragon is stoker class-given it lives in a volcano." Viggo offered to Hiccup.

"I was guessing that too, Viggo..." Hiccup stated. "I called you all here because we need a plan to attack, a plan to anything. This is the source of the raids, we stop this then I think we stop the raids." he added.

"Can't you take your dragons in to talk to this dragon, make it understand?" Alvin offered.

"That's the problem, this dragon...it emits some form of signal that makes the dragons bend to it's will. It would be my fear that if I took my trained dragons in, they would become controlled." Hiccup replied now.

"But isn't Toothless like an Alpha to the dragons. We've seen your work in raids, his blue glow-they respond to it and listen." Dagur stated.

"It's my belief that when they are away from the island-they regain some control but still know their orders. As a human would, per say to use as an example. If I tell Viggo to go do something, he'll do it because I'm the chief. However, if it's a job off Berk or away from me-he could always get side tracked, return later, but he still knew his orders to fulfill. When they raid another island like here-Toothless has the ability to overpower the other dragon slightly, and bend them to his will to leave. But his power cannot hold their control for whatever reason. I assume he can bend their will long enough to send them away from the island but not command them to stay here or stop listening to her. If that makes any sense," Hiccup shrugged.

"It does, to a degree-but it doesn't help us find a solution to this Drago guy. He controls the big dragon, so...what? We take him out and it stops?" Bertha questioned.

"I don't think it's that simple. This guy, didn't appear to be older than his late forties, maybe early fifties. Dragons have been raiding for hundreds of years prior to him," Hiccup stated now, "I believe our problem is the massive dragon. He controls that dragon, who controls the smaller ones. If we take care of that dragon, Drago has nothing to command them with and after that...Toothless should be able to reign as alpha dragon." he mentioned while sitting in his chair at the table.

"How do we defeat a dragon you're explaining to us. It's suicide..." Madguts huffed.

"Gee, I don't know. If I knew would I have called you all here to try and think of something?! I shouldn't have even allowed you here but I did because this is a problem that affects us all. Now if you're not going to help us, get the hell off my island." Hiccup ordered firmly pointing to the door. Madguts remained quiet now and sat back.

"If I may inquire about something," Madgut's second in command, Alvis said now.

"Proceed." Hiccup motioned to him to talk now.

"Your dragon Toothless...you said you shot him down during a raid seven years ago, yes?" Hiccup nodded to him. "If he was among those raids-then it stands to reason at one point he was under this thing's control. How is it that he is no longer affected by it's demands to return to the nest or follow orders?"

"I've questioned this many times myself. Aside from his tail being gone and preventing him from returning...I feel that perhaps the crash may have shook this thing's control from him. I know how odd that sounds-but it's all I got to go on. I believe that being away from her control for so long may have changed things. It's an assumption that when the dragons are controlled-their minds become clouded and cannot think for themselves. When I shot Toothless down, he couldn't get away. He was forced to stay on Berk in the cove and as time passed, his mind became clear again or maybe it's the bond he and I share. Am I getting close here, Toothless?" Hiccup asked looking to his dragon who was sitting on the floor beside him.

The dragon lifted it's head and warbled at him, then gave a nod. "Did he just answer you?" Alvin questioned.

"Yes. Like I said, they do understand us or they wouldn't be trainable. When Toothless and I bonded seven years ago, it wasn't just a mutual understanding. It was a physical feeling that we both felt when his nose was against my palm. It as trust, understanding, respect. Humans and dragons are the same-we just look different. Toothless is able to show anger, sadness, concern, worry, content, joy...Hell, I even know when he's being sarcastic. I feel like our bond, helped him see clearly again just as he showed me the truth about dragons. That they are just like us-but there are some who won't change, who believe there are superior to others." Hiccup said.

"Drago and this dragon seem to be allowing power to go to their heads. Drago has no power without this dragon, the others won't listen to him because he doesn't understand dragons as we do chief. I believe you are right in saying if we defeat the dragon, then Drago has nothing left." Viggo confirmed, agreeing with Hiccup.

"I also agree." Mogadon nodded along with his second in command, Colby.

"As do we," Oyvind and Alvin nodded. Soon everyone was nodding except one.

"What's say you, Madguts. Are you going to join us for the greater good or stay back on your own again?" Hiccup asked looking at him.

"I need to understand how you plan to defeat this dragon. If the it's as big as you say it is, we don't stand a chance. As you said, we cannot involve your dragons without risking them turning on us. So what do you plan to do?" Madguts asked.

"I don't know yet-but I'm not gonna waste my time coming up with a plan that you don't plan to work with us on. This will take a team effort, a combination of all of us to do. Are you with us or not?" Hiccup asked firmly now.

"I refuse to allow the fate of my village fall on the mere assumptions of a child who works with those beasts." Madguts huffed as he stood up, "Your dragons already took my eldest son's life, I won't allow them to destroy my village. Murderus will continue to work alone." he then left, his second in command sighing heavily and following him out.

"Make sure he reaches his ship, Viggo. I don't want him listening in." Hiccup ordered.

"Right away chief," Viggo said with a bow and exited the room.

"So we're all in agreement then, to come up with a plan to defeat the dragon and capture Drago to punish him for his actions against the people of the Archipelago?" Hiccup asked them. Around the room were nods and affirmative smiles, "Then let's get to work finding out a way to defeat Red Death," he said pulling out a map and stabbing a dagger through the spot where the nest was.

"Red Death?" Asgeir blinked.

"That's what I'm callin' it." Hiccup chuckled.

"Who said you get to decide?" Dagur mumbled.

"Because it was my idea to follow the dragons back to their nest, and my ass that nearly got killed to find out what was going on. I think I earned that right to name the dragon we're going to be killing. I call it that because if we screw this up, that island will be painted red with the blood of humans and dragons. Death to all so to speak...Red Death seemed fitting," Hiccup retorted. Without more arguments, they all began to talk to come up with different ideas to take down the dragon that controlled the raids. Drago wouldn't be a problem if they defeated the Red Death, so that was their goal. Kill the dragon, capture Drago and return peace to the Archipelago. 


	27. Chapter 27

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 27**

~Normal POV~

They had been talking about for three hours, what to do about Red Death. Thus far, no plan of attack was made. Plenty of ideas but nothing finalized because of risks that got factored in if going through with it. It was past lunch time now and they were right back to trying to come up with something that could ensure safety and taking down a massive dragon. One they only had a head drawing of-they knew nothing else about it which was sparking the question of maybe someone should go investigate further but that was dangerous to send someone in to an unknown area, even Hiccup was hesitant on going again. Especially because he was spotted once and there was no telling how far down he'd have to go to size up this dragon which would be helpful in knowing. So far all they knew was that it had six eyes-three on each side and ate other dragons, also that it lived in the carona of the volcano so safe to assume it was a stoker class dragon.

"We've been at this for hours, chief Hiccup. And no closer to a decision, what can we do? You know dragons, so what do we do about this?" Asgeir sighed while the others agreed with the Hysteria chief about things.

"The only thing I can think of that might work is teaching you to ride dragons. An army of dragon riders-now hear me out before you shoot it down," he said as they nodded and closed their mouths to protest. "Drago is building an army of controlled dragons because he has Red Death-the alpha of the nest. Well, Toothless is alpha of the dragons here. I think they can resist Red Death's control signal because Toothless is here. Being close to him seems to negate the effect it has on them. If you recall four years ago when I stopped your raid, Mogadon, I broke the control of the dragon I touched and sent them off. What I'm saying refers back to bonding, if you bonded with dragons, rode them...I think they can resist her control and we'd have extra fire power," Hiccup explained.

"So you're saying we should become dragon riders, have an army of us and go in to fight the Red Death?" Dagur asked.

"How are you so sure it would work?" Oyvind questioned.

"Can you give us any guarantees of your idea? And even with bonding, how would we approach this dragon. It swallowed a Gronckle in one bite with room to spare according to you..." Alvin asked.

"That was an enclosed space-if we are out on the main part of the island, we could be in the air avoiding blasts. And for guarantee, I cannot. It's just a hunch. Toothless and were right next to it and he didn't fall to it's control. If we stay close enough to each other and attack as a group, we might be able to distract her so the other dragons can get free of the control and fly off. Then it would be us versus the Red Death, and I don't think she can control our dragons as long as we're with them. It's a stretch-but right now...it's all we got," Hiccup shrugged to them.

"How long would it take to train us?" Bertha inquired.

"That depends on how well you listen and how fast you learn. It took be three weeks to learn Toothless but that's also because I was building him a working tail that only I control. I taught Astrid how to fly Stormfly in a mere five to six hours." Hiccup informed.

"I say we vote on this," Gunvor remarked.

"Alright. All in favor of learning to ride dragons, hands up." Hiccup asked. Five hands went up belonging to Mogadon, Bertha, Asgeir, Oyvind, and Dagur. "Those opposed?" he continued. Gunvor and Alvin raised their hands. "Well, the hands have it. Dragon riding it is..." he added.

"Very well, when do we start?" Alvin sighed.

"Get your rest, we start at dawn. I have a few things to see to before then, enjoy your stay area in the inn rooms. I'll have dinner brought to you." Hiccup informed as he gave a bow of his head and exited the Great Hall with Toothless after whispering to Viggo to make sure they made it to the inn alright. It was something Hiccup had built for when others stayed on the island. A two level building that had ten rooms on each side, a total of forty for the whole building-twenty on each floor. The rooms were equipped three beds each, a night stand on each side and a large closet space with dividers and shelving areas. There was also a wash room on each level and in the back was a main seating area that could hold forty easily, interesting design but in ensured he always had enough room for guests.

Viggo escorted them to the inn and made sure they had everything the needed-then once settled there, he moved on to going about his duties. As for Hiccup, he was on Toothless wrangling dragons for the chieftains. He wasn't teaching all of them. Just the chieftains-between them and his riders from Berk, which there were about eight four of including the riders he had from Skywing. They would have more than enough riders to handle Red Death, and the rest could handle ground coverage with catapults and spears-long range weapons. The most firepower they would have would in fact be the fire breathing dragons-Hiccup just prayed it would be enough, if not...he had a backup plan he wasn't revealing to anyone.

As the hours ticked away, Hiccup rounded up the dragons in the academy ring with some fish each and they were already trained by him. This was mainly giving and receiving trust with them-so the dragons knew he was a friend rather an enemy. Hiccup sealed the ring and moved towards his home with Toothless in tow, tomorrow was going to be a long day or bonding and teaching. He just hoped they were ready for it and it didn't take long. Every moment wasted was another where a dragon suffered imprisonment by Red Death. Reaching his home, he ate dinner with his wife and kids-took a bath to relax, then called it a night early. Not that it lasted because around 10pm, a raid started.

Hiccup whistled for Toothless as the two of them headed outside where most had gathered to try and help but ten to one, Hiccup did it by himself because all they knew was how to gain trust once a dragon was calm and according to Hiccup, these ones were under the control of Red Death.

"CHIEF! What do we do, there's over fifty of them!" Ryker called to him when he saw him outside.

"Keep everyone back!" Hiccup ordered as he pulled Inferno off his hip and lit the blade on fire before clipping it to a chain and getting on Toothless-then going up into the sky. Hiccup hovered there and began to swing the flaming blade around as it appeared to show a rotating circle of fire but nothing else. It gave off a low whistle like sound as the dragons began to watch it and fly in formation, following the circle. "Ready Toothless?" Hiccup asked him, the dragon nodded as as he took on the blue glow. Hiccup stopped swinging Inferno, grabbed the handle and throwing it down into the ground, flame still going as Toothless let off a loud roar, the dragons stopped and bowed their heads to them before turning and heading back.

Toothless landed on the ground as Hiccup got off and picked up Inferno, dousing the blade and putting the weapon back in it's place-he was surprised to find that thirteen dragons from the raid had remained on Berk, landing before him with their heads bowed to Toothless.

"Huh, guess they want to stay, babe." Astrid smiled stepped beside him now.

"It makes me wonder if Toothless does have the power to save them from her control. Maybe just not in mass packs, these dragons are just babies-haven't been servants to her as long if I had to guess." Hiccup stated as Toothless lightly growled to the dragons and they happily nuzzled against him. "Alright, raid is over-back to your homes people." he ordered. No arguing too place, everyone thankful once more that Hiccup could handle it-they reached their homes and soon the village was quiet. Viggo and Ryker settled the dragons in another training area and that was it for the night. Hiccup falling asleep with the thoughts of more ideas of how to help the dragons under Red Death's control.

(Next Morning)

When the first lights of morning reached the village of Berk, Hiccup was up and ready to get to the academy to teach the chieftains how to ride dragons. The night before he had wrangled seven dragons: two Gronckles, Two Nightmares, one Hobblegrunt, one Thunderdrum, and one Nadder. The young chief made his way to the inn and knocked on the doors he knew had the chieftains in them and then he stepped back to wait for them to come out. The first two doors to open revealed Bertha, and the other with Alvin. After another five minutes or so, the others emerged from their rooms.

"Stay close, follow me. We have a lot of work to do today," Hiccup informed them with a yawn, Toothless warbled tiredly as well. The others followed him as they reached the ring twenty minutes later-given it was the farthest thing away from the village, getting inside Hiccup had them wait while each of the dragons came close to sniff him and settle down before he let them all the way in the ring. "So dragon training refresher, who can tell me what kinds of dragons are in here?" he asked them.

"Uh...Nightmare, Gronckle, Nadder, Thunderdrum, and...I'm not sure what that one is..." Asgeir mentioned pointing to the Hobblegrunt.

"That is a Hobblegrunt-or that's what I call it at least. These dragons here are unique in the sense of what they can do. Few facts for ya: they are Stoker class, stand nine feet tall, they can change their color and vibrate their crowns to either soothe or fire up other dragons around it. It is sensitive to other dragon's moods. This one is a female," Hiccup stated.

"Interesting," the chieftains nodded in agreement.

"Let's get down to training here, first is what you learned on Cloud Rider Isle four years ago: mutual understanding, respect, trust-then we can move on to bonding." Hiccup informed, "Line up." they did so as things began. For an hour, they worked on gaining, giving, receiving trust and respect. Understanding came easier to them than the first time. "Very good, now we can work on bonding-this can take seconds to hours to do. Bonding is where your personality matches the one of the dragons, something that connects the two of you-giving a more...personal understanding. For example, when I met Toothless-I could have killed him. Instead, I set him free because when I looked at him-I saw myself. I saw fear, I saw difference, I saw him lying there weak and wounded with no one to help him. I knew what that felt like so I released him and then he released me, our mutual understanding of one another having similar feelings." he explained.

"So how do we know the dragon's personality?" Dagur asked now.

"During the last hour, you may of noticed that some of the dragons became more playful and happy near you. Such as the green Gronckle with you Dagur, it wanted to play and be scratched by you but not the others. In most cases, the dragon chooses the rider-the one it trusts to be on it's back. When you bond to a dragon, it's more than riding it. It's a connection of the utmost trust. Having a bonded dragon means you have an everlasting partner, protector, friend, ally." Hiccup told them as Toothless warbled at Hiccup-who rubbed under his chin.

"So to say, the Hobblegrunt remaining near me is...choosing me?" Gunvor inquired.

"She can feel your emotions, she understands you are a man who desires peace and no fighting but will fight to protect your home." Hiccup nodded.

"And this Gronckle with me?" Bertha asked, Hiccup nodded again.

"And from sight alone as an observer: the Thunderdrum has chosen Alvin. The two Nightmares have chosen Asgeir and Oyvind. The Nadder has chosen Mogadon. Now it's time for the bonding test," Hiccup said to them as he gave the hand command for the dragons to line up, "Stand before your dragon," he instructed calmly as they all did so. "What you're gonna do is close your eyes and turn your head to the side while putting your hand up with the palm out and just wait. When you feel the dragon press it's nose to your palm, the bond has formed because the dragon will also have it's eyes closed. You will feel it, I assure you."

The chieftains all did as they were told and waited in silence. Alvin, Bertha, Mogadon, Dagur, and Gunvor had no trouble-it was Oyvind and Asgeir who had yet to bond. Hiccup decided to switch the Nightmares around and then they pressed their noses to the chieftain's open palms. "Now you can open your eyes and meet your bonded dragon," Hiccup smiled. They all did so and actually smiles as well, Hiccup could tell they were understanding the bond-how it made one feel to know they had a friend for life.

"So lack of knowing question here, um, what are their genders?" Mogadon inquired.

"Dagur's Gronckle is male, Bertha's is female. The Thunderdrum is male. The two Nightmares are female, and the Nadder is male. Hobblegrunt is female. Next for training is to name your dragon," Hiccup enlightened them. The chieftains seemed to start thinking hard about name ideas, Hiccup always found this fun to watch actually.

"I'm going to name her...Ruby because of her colors," Bertha smiled as the dragon licked her cheek.

"Skyflame," said Oyvind as the dragon seemed to smile.

"Whipthorn for my Nadder," Mogadon grinned.

I'll call you...Shattermaster, like that boy?" Dagur asked as the Gronckle jumped around happily.

"I'll call 'im...Boomstrike," Alvin chuckled some as Hiccup only shook his head. Last person to pick a name was Gunvor with his Hobblegrunt.

"Soothescale," Gunvor said proudly.

"Very good, all of your. Only been at this an hour and thirty minutes and almost completely finished-the rest is flying." Hiccup informed.

"Huh, it's not so bad after all." Asgeir smiled.

"Told you, there's more to life than killing dragons. There's befriending them, and making an ally rather an enemy." Hiccup told them. "Now, it's time for breakfast-we'll pick this up afterwards," he said preparing to leave with Toothless, "You can take them with you back to the inn, there are stables built onto each side of the lower level. I best not see anyone trying to fly before the lessons," Hiccup warned, the nodded as everyone left the academy and went their separate ways.

Hiccup returned home just in time to sit down with his family to eat breakfast, he updated Astrid on how the chieftains were doing in training and offered the boys to join him in the academy to help out Mogadon, Asgeir, and Oyvind. Milla wanted to come too-but because she wasn't a full rider, Hiccup could allow her inside to train. His rules as far as kids learning to ride dragons were that they had to be at least twelve. When breakfast was over, Hiccup mounted Toothless and the boys mounted their dragons before they took off back to the academy to continue training. Riding was easy to an extent-getting into evasive maneuvers with flips, twirls, and more got tricky if you didn't pay attention.

Upon arriving, the other chieftains met him there. "So where do we start?" Alvin asked.

"We start by first getting you on your dragon, and work on slight lift off and landing, then hovering. If that doesn't take long-we can move on to more complicated flying. I've brought my sons with me, top of their class and named full rider status to train others but only in their dragon class area. So Asgeir and Oyvind, you will be working with Hagen. Mogadon with Tore." Hiccup informed.

"Would you like me to take the Gronckle riders?" Eret offered entering the ring now.

"That would be helpful, Eret, thank you. Alvin and Gunvor can work with me." Hiccup nodded. From there, training continued. Hiccup watched everything as he always did while working with Alvin and Gunvor with their dragons. Everyone was doing quite well, everyone handled mounting, dismounting, take off, landing, and hovering great. Although it took Dagur and Asgeir a few tries on the hovering and landing. This only took them until 11am to complete, Hiccup stated they were ready to move on.

"Time to move them out flying outside the academy for offense, defense, evasive, and formations?" Tore asked curiously.

"Yes, we'll work on formations now. Everything else can be done after lunch," Hiccup nodded. After stating that-they all mounted and headed out of the ring where Hiccup began to teach them flying formations such as diamond, cross, X, arrowhead, and more. While teaching them he also explained what they were used for and why they were so important. This continued until about 1pm-a little over lunch-but it was worth it to teach them every formation they'd need to know, especially for a battle with Red Death. They all decided to eat lunch in the academy with some fish and chicken, water or yak milk for the drink.

"What do we work on after lunch?" Bertha asked.

"Different types of moves. Offensive, defensive, firing while flying, firing and getting away to avoid being hit, evasive...all that-you'll need it for the fight," Hiccup nodded while eating his chicken leg.

"Do you think we'll win, Dad?" Hagen asked softly.

"We stand a pretty good chance with the dragons. Don't you worry, boys, I won't let anything happen to you." Hiccup smiled as he put his arms over their shoulders and hugged them.

"We'll defeat the big ole dragon together," Tore smiled.

"You boys are staying here with the villagers who don't ride dragons. Along with Milla, Destin, and your mother. This isn't a fight for you to be in," Hiccup told them.

"But Dad!" they tried.

"I'll hear no arguments on it you two. It's going to be a crazy fight and I don't want you in the middle of it. I need you here to protect the village because if anything happens to me...the oldest of you two will become the next chief until your sister is of age to take it herself." Hiccup said. The boys sighed and nodded to him.

"You...will come back, right, Dad?" Hagen asked looking down.

"I can't make that promise," he admitted, he could feel the eyes of the other chieftains on him now, "but I can promise you that whether I live or die, the raids will stop and everyone will be safe," he kissed their foreheads and hugged them tightly.

"Don't worry, father. We'll protect the village and not let you down!" Tore smiled now, so did Hagen.

"I know. Let's finish up eating so we can get back to work," Hiccup told them, with an affirmative nod-they began to eat again. Hiccup would allow his kids into the fight, not even his wife although she was one of the best fliers beside himself-but it was too risky. Hiccup wouldn't lose them, he wouldn't and couldn't. The rest of lunch was pretty silent, Hiccup deep in thought about the battle-trying to figure out who to bring with him and how to set up the battlefield to their advantage and not Drago's. This was going to be huge, it was basically a war-and Odin only knew how long it would go on for or who the victor would be. Hiccup knew one thing for absolute certain: no matter what happened, it ended next week.


	28. Chapter 28

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 28**

~Normal POV~

It took some time-but Hiccup got them all trained as full dragon riders like himself. They knew just about everything he did, of course their knowledge pertained to only their dragon. Hiccup's knowledge was for all dragons, it would take far too much time to teach the chieftains everything he knew. Now it was a week later, and they had been spending their free time working on a battle plan. It couldn't just be air assault-it had to be ground too. This already posed a the question of how to handle it. Hiccup's idea had been to use the dragon riders for air attacks on Red Death-but he forgot to factor in the Drago and his army of humans would be fighting as well. This meant Hiccup needed a large group on the ground to keep the humans from shooting the riders down, this was making things harder to figure out. So far, no matter what plan was created-something was halting it in one way or another.

Hiccup actually stressed himself out once about it all and passed out during a meeting-he was taken to Eydis's and Gothi's to rest up then forced by his wife to stay in bed the rest of the day and stop thinking about the fight. More surprises turned up when Gobber, Heather, and Camicazi unintentionally bonded with dragons. Hiccup found out about Heather and Cami because they sent Terrible Terror messages to their family members, meaning Heather to Dagur and Camicazi to Bertha. Gobber just approached Hiccup with a boulder class dragon behind him saying that it wouldn't stop following him. Hiccup decided to bring Cami and Heather to Berk to train them, rather have Eret do it since he was busy. Ryker and another rider split off to the separate island and brought Heather, Thuggary, and Camicazi along with their dragons.

Gobber was now training to ride, Grump-a male Hotburple, a cousin to the Gronckles if it could be said that way. One of the only dragons who could bite through dragon proof cages and chains. Heather bonded with a female Razorwhip she named Windshear-this was a dragon covered in metal but was fast and part of the Sharp class for dragons. Thuggary bonded to a male Razorwhip he named Spearstrike. Finally there was Camicazi, who bonded with a male Nadder who she now called: Poisonfire. Interesting name indeed but so true because of the poison in the tail spines, and the fact that Nadder's flame burned with the heat of the sun. So now Eret was training those four as quickly as he could because now Hiccup would have three extra riders for the fight-more fighters never hurt anyone especially with that they were going up against. Of course things got more complication when Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and even Snotlout had dragons following them in curiosity.

Now they were rolling onto the end the third week since this all began. Hiccup never stopped the bonding process, especially if the dragon chose the rider. And in a weird turn of events, the people his age ended up bonding to the dragons that had been following them. Fishlegs to a female Gronckle that he named Meatlug, the twins were oddly enough sharing a male Hideous Zippleback-each giving a name to one of the heads. Ruffnut's named hers Barf-the right head, and Tuffnut named his, Belch, the left head. Finally there was Snotlout who shockingly enough bonded to a male Monstrous Nightmare that was now called Hookfang. Eret was training them along side Cami, Thuggary, Heather, and Gobber. The last to join the training class was his own father, Stoick who unintentionally bonded to a male Thunderdrum who he eventually gave the name of Thornado to.

Hiccup felt like his head was going to explode if anyone else came to him saying they had a dragon following them or unintentionally bonded to one. He didn't have time for all this extra training, and he was almost positive one of his twins spilled about only taking people who could ride dragons with him to the nest. Not wanting to waste more time, he put a ban on bonding for anyone else until after the battle was over. He didn't have a choice, they needed to get this fight underway before bad Winter hit in a month.

"UGH, this is impossible!" Hiccup groaned from his home office as the children looked over from the couch worried for their clearly stressed out father on this situation. Astrid handed Destin to Hagen as she went to his office and put her arms around his shoulders to hung him.

"Easy, Hiccup..." she said gently.

"I can't right now, babe. I have no idea how to do this, it's all so risky. Anything I think of just...doesn't work," Hiccup raked his fingers through his auburn hair and sighed.

"Hey, listen to me..." Astrid soothed as she got to the side of him and lifted his chin so their eyes would meet. "You are Hiccup Haddock the Useful. You are chief of Berk, rider of a Night Fury, husband to me, father to those kids out there. You're are the one who stops raids, you're the one who found the cause of them, you are the one who discovered the truth about dragons, you are the one who got viking who have been killing them for centuries to now ride them. Hiccup, look at everything you have done in just seven years, almost eight. Look how far we've come since we left Berk with Toothless and Stormfly! All this, you did this because you dared to be bold, daring, different. But now with this threat, you've begun to doubt yourself that you can bring peace to the Archipelago. Stop doubting, and start believing. If anyone can do this, it's you." she encouraged softly. Hiccup watched her lean in and kissed him gently before stepping back once with a smile. "Because no matter what you choose, Hiccup...we're all going to stand behind you and give it our all."

Hiccup stared into her eyes after the kiss-which he obviously returned. Astrid was right-he'd done so much since meeting Toothless and no large dragon and psychopath was going to stop him from bringing peace to the Archipelago. Hiccup smiled now as he got up and pulled her close to him, kissing her deeply again, this took her by surprise but after it she smiled at him. "Thank you for reminding me who I am," Hiccup whispered to her.

"Anytime," Astrid nodded, Hiccup gathered his things and rushed out of the house to get back to the meeting. It had been lunch break originally and he was hard at work while eating-now he was going to just going to go with the first thing that came to mind. If nothing else, he had a fall back that no one knew of. He hoped it wouldn't come to that-but if it did, then so be it. Reaching the Great Hall, he saw Viggo already there and settling the others down.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do." Hiccup began as the others arched a brow at him-but stayed quiet to let him explain his plan. The more they listened, the more sense it made and sounded like it could actually work. After about twenty minutes, he was done and looked to the chieftains. "It covers air, ground, and all around."

"It is risky but covers everything we need it to cover..." Mogadon said calmly as they were clearly all thinking about it.

"Look, you've been here for three weeks already, if we don't strike soon-that madman is gonna sail out to the islands with the dragons and raid us to hell and back. I say we get them on their territory when they least expect it. We can't just use the dragons, and we can't attack from the ground alone-we need both and we need a lot of both." Hiccup sighed heavily.

"We don't have a better plan. I say we do it," Asgeir stated, Bertha and Alvin agreeing with him.

"If so, how man riders and fighters do you plan to take?" Oyvind questioned now.

"Well, from what I saw at the island-Drago has hundreds of dragons and hundreds of fighters. I noticed when Red Death got mad and made a snap for Toothless and I, the other dragons fled the volcano. I think because it was distracted by an intruder it didn't recognize, the control on them dropped-but they didn't get far because once the _distraction_ was gone, it called them back. We gotta do things in sections, if we can remove the dragons by distracting Red Death-it can't call them back to it to fight. Then it's just us against Red Death, Drago, and his men." Hiccup mentioned now, sure of his words.

"But still, how many should we plan to take?" Gunvor inquired, following Oyvind's question.

"He has an army-safe to say he has at least one hundred. I didn't see a lot of humans there, perhaps one hundred and fifty-his numbers are in the dragons. We remove them from the alpha's control then our chances of winning increase dramatically," Hiccup stated. "If I had to take a guess, we need at least forty riders, and sixty fighters on ground. The fighters will keep Drago's men busy, and off us while we keep Red Death off them-while weakening her." he added.

"So one hundred people...to take on one hundred and fifty soldiers and a really big dragon that controls lesser ones? Not liking the odds there, chief Hiccup..." Dagur sighed some.

"I know but bringing too many could result in more harm. This is the only chance we have, now either you're with me or I'll go alone. I'm gonna go out there and give it my hardest-but I won't hide here like a coward. You wanna stay back out of fear-then you don't deserve to call yourselves leaders. The true leader is the one who will live up to the vows they took-that they will protect their island and the people residing there no matter the cost, even be it their own life they give up. I leave it to your decision-but I'm going with or without you and if I die, so be it. At least I will have tried to do what is right, and at the end of the day chiefs and chieftess-that's all any of us can really do. Try." After he said that, he closed his eyes and walked away from the table they had all been sitting at-then he exited the Great Hall with Toothless.

Hiccup took a deep breath, whether they came or not-he didn't care. He was going to go and do whatever he could to defeat Red Death and Drago, he would protect his island and family-even if he had to it alone. Hiccup and Toothless walked towards the house, he might as well get ready to go now. No use wasting more precious time. Reaching his home-he grabbed Toothless's saddle bag to pack it with a few of his inventions he assumed might help, he also grabbed his shield and sword-then extra canisters for Nightmare gel and Zippleback gas to use Inferno with.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked gently. Hiccup glanced over to her and she frowned already knowing his mood, "They didn't like the plan, did they?"

"No. They feel its pointless and will only result in death, so while they hide here like cowards...I'm either gonna live up to my vows or die trying," Hiccup said as he closed the saddle bag and removed his fur cloak from his back, leaving it hanging on the hook by the bed.

"Wait, you're not going to go alone are you?" Astrid inquired with fear rising in her eyes.

"If no one else will fight, then I suppose I don't have a choice-but I'm not going to let this continue farther...I'm gonna go out there and give that thing and Drago hell while praying to Odin that luck is on my side..." Hiccup told her.

"Let me get Anya or someone to babysit, I'm coming too!" Astrid replied.

"No, Astrid. I'm the chief, this is my job..." Hiccup said firmly.

"I don't care! We do things together, Hiccup. We started it together, and that's how we'll stay." Astrid argued.

"Our children need you alive," Hiccup sighed.

"They need you too!" Astrid countered.

"And the village needs their chief to protect them like he promised he would!" Hiccup yelled back at her as she fell quiet, "This is...my responsibility, Astrid. My battle to protect my village, Tribe, and family." he said softer now as Astrid fought back tears and lowered her head. "I need you here as my support-that way I know what I'm fighting for, so I know who is waiting for me to come back," he leaned in some and kissed her gently-he pulled back now and hugged her tightly before stepping back to see Tore, Hagen-who was holding Destin-and Milla standing by the door way.

Hiccup just opened his arms to them as they hurried over to hug him tightly, "Be safe, Dad." Tore told him.

"We love you," Milla whimpered lightly.

"I love you all too and know I'm doing this to keep you all safe," Hiccup pulled Astrid in for the hug too. The family stood there locking in the embrace for almost five minutes before separating. Hiccup went downstairs and exited the house while making sure everything on Toothless was secured and ready for battle, after that he got on his back and saw others around the area gathering with soft smiles or sad eyes.

"I hope you don't think you're going alone lad," Gobber hovered overhead on Grump.

"Wouldn't leave without us, would ya son?" Stoick smiled as he was riding on Thornado.

"Us too, chief Hiccup." Heather and Camicazi gave each other a highfive while on their dragons, Windshear and Poisonfire.

"And don't forget about me," Thuggary chuckled while on Spearstrike. Others who flew over with their dragons were Boarlegs, Buffnut, Spitelout, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs.

"You're gonna risk your hide, we'll risk ours." Snotlout said.

"This isn't just your island, it's all our island and we'll protect our home as a Tribe." Boarlegs added in with a smile.

"And we wouldn't let you go without us, chief." Viggo said while flying over on Sunflame. His brother, Ryker beside him on Blastburn and then Eret on Skullcrusher.

"And we got a whole group of thirty ready with two ships with spears, bolas, and catapults." Eret grinned. Hiccup couldn't believe it, they were all willing to go with him and they didn't even know the plan. He only discussed it with the leaders of other Tribes-who didn't want to risk their lives on a whim so to speak. Astrid handed Destin to her mother, Asvilla as she gave a whistle and Stormfly came over-Astrid jumped on her back and smiled.

"I told you, Hiccup. We do this together," she told him as her father, Asmund handed over Astrid's ax which she placed on her back.

"We have a ship ready as well with twenty on it armed with spears, bows and arrows, also two catapults-boulders for those too." Stoick informed his son.

"We're fighting with you. Some threatens our home, we all fight to protect it." Astrid reached her hand out and Hiccup took it smiling.

"Well, all I got to say is this," he paused before getting on Toothless then throwing his fist in the air, "Let's go win ourselves a war!" everyone cheered at it, clapping and smiling, rooting the riders on. "Tore, Hagen. You're acting chiefs until we get back. You do not leave this island, clear?"

"Crystal, Dad!" the boys saluted to him with a smile.

"Alright, we head West. Ships sail in arrow formation. Riders! Split up into groups, arrow formation with full fliers leading," Hiccup commanded. When this was done, Hiccup looked to his right to see the other chieftains on their dragons.

"You were right." Alvin said.

"We're leaders of our islands and we fight to protect them-even at the cost of our own lives," Bertha added.

"But one thing is for damn sure," Asgeir paused.

"We aren't cowards and we're gonna show them who they're messing with!" Oyvind smiled.

"FOR THE ARCHIPELAGO!" Dagur, Gunvor, and Mogadon yelled out.

"We've lost many battles in raids, today...we will win the war," said Asmund who got on his Nightmare-Brimstone.

Hiccup could only smile-they were all rallying together for this fight, Hiccup was sure they'd win. If not, if it failed...he would use his plan. Something he learned while working with Toothless, he hoped it worked the same for all because if it didn't, everyone he cared about would die. "Let's go get 'em!" Hiccup yelled out as he took lead in the arrow formation. There were five groups of six riders, first was: Hiccup leading Stoick, Gobber, Spitelout, Asmund, and Corey. Next it was Astrid leading Camicazi, Heather, Ruffnut, Bertha, and Anya on Hiccup's right. On his left was Viggo leading Buffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Sigmund. Behind on the right was Ryker with his group containing Alvin, Asgeir, Oyvind, Mogadon, and Dagur. On the back left was Eret leading Thuggary, Albin, Boarlegs, Soren, and Folke. Under them were the three ships carrying an assortment of fighters and Nightmares to pull their ships at the speed the dragons overhead were flying.

"How long is the flight, chief?" Viggo asked.

"About an hour," Hiccup called back. This was going to be a long, silent, and worry some flight indeed. Everyone wondering what to expect when they got there since Hiccup was the only one to ever get in as close as he was-he was leading because he knew the way. In total they had thirty riders and fifty fighters-most of the people on the ship were from the old Skywing Tribe though, they knew how to fly if it was needed. Hiccup looked up to the sky and took a deep breath, _'Don't know if you're listening, Odin-but if ya are...give us your strength for this,'_ with that, he kept his eyes forward-granted they were an hour away, he wanted to be ready for anything. No matter what and without a doubt, it would end today.


	29. Chapter 29

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 29**

~Normal POV~

There seemed to be a storm coming at them, the winds were getting strong and the flashes of light, as well rolls of thunder were a good indicator that a storm was headed right for them. It wouldn't be good for the ships to sail that, also Hiccup and Toothless were in danger too if lightning struck the fake tail. Something Hiccup learned while chief of Cloud Rider Isle was that metal attracted lightning, they got struck once and were stranded on another island for about fifteen hours until Astrid located him with Viggo and Eret. They had to carry Toothless back to the island so Hiccup could make another tail for them to use-the one Toothless wore now actually looking like a real tail. Black fin and leather pieces but the metal and ropes were normal color. This tail was thinner material but stronger and it made Toothless faster, that topped with his back splines being able to split apart meant they could make tighter, faster turns. It was great.

"How close are we chief?" Gobber asked him.

"Should be closing in on the fog barrier in about ten minutes, how's everyone holding?" Hiccup asked looking back to his group leaders: Astrid, Viggo, Eret, and Ryker.

"Holding, babe. Storm is getting a bit heavy though, look how dark it is..." Astrid mentioned pointing around them.

"Those aren't storm clouds. It's the smoke and ash from the volcano, nothing to worry about." Hiccup assured them.

"He says calmly as he's leading seventy people to a volcano island that has a psychopath who controls a very large dragon that we call Red Death-who can control lesser dragons like the ones we're riding with only a mere hope that his Night Fury's power is enough to keep them from being controlled..." Alvin mumbled. Hiccup rolled his eyes at the sarcastic remark, though he'd admit it was really good-definitely something he would have said if the tables were turned. Looking forward again, he took a deep breath. This was it, the final battle to stop the raids, the war, and return peace to the Archipelago-peace that involved dragons and humans living together in harmony.

He prayed to Odin this played out in their favor. The last ten minutes of their flight were silent-due to Hiccup warning them to be quiet so they didn't alert anyone they were there right away. When it came into sight-everyone was shocked and amazed at what they. "Something is wrong here..." Hiccup told himself.

"What do you mean, son?" Stoick asked.

"Why would this guy have a base that is completely unguarded outside. It's too quiet, Stay up here..." Hiccup said as he flew forward to check things out closer. The smoke and ash was thick, hard to see though as he tried to get a better look at why it was so quiet. Every instinct in him was screaming _TRAP_. However, he wouldn't play into it. That was the first rule of battle, never play into the obvious. Always observe first and plan accordingly.

"Chief!" Ryker whispered to him as he looked back, "Those are Murderus ships docked, rather wrecked on the beach..." Hiccup got lower now and scanned over the damage. With him closer to the ground, he saw the damage. Fifty or so Murderus Tribe members strewn about, possibly dead or unconscious and wounded lying about.

 _'Those idiots didn't actually try to fight alone, did they?!'_ Hiccup thought quickly as he landed Toothless quietly near Madguts's body and checked over him-the man was breathing an unconscious-thank Thor for that much. Toothless picked up something, a sound as he used his tail to push Hiccup out of the way of an incoming arrow. "Woah!" he panted-he could have died if it weren't for Toothless.

"ATTACK!" yelled a deep voice. Hiccup jumped on Toothless and got into the sky just as the men who worked for Drago raced forward with their weapons out. By a mere glance, Hiccup's guess had been right. One to one hundred and fifty could be seen coming at them.

"Disarm, capture-but do not kill!" Hiccup ordered the riders-they all headed in as the battle began between Drago's men and Hiccup's riders.

An hour into battle, things were holding steady. Thirty or so of Drago's fighters had been subdued, disarmed and being held in a ring of fire created by Monstrous Nightmare gel and Deadly Nadder fire-the fighters didn't seem to want to challenge the risk of a burn from a fire that burned with the heat of the sun itself. Hiccup had yet to spot Drago, he was likely still in the base awaiting his moment to show himself. Hiccup watched as four of his riders wrangled another twenty into another ring of fire. Fifty men captured-this was going well. Of course, Hiccup knew better than to celebrate early. This was far from over-Drago was playing it smart and using his expendable fighters to wear down Hiccup's riders before he brought out Red Death and the army of controlled dragons. Finally a man emerged from the base holding a bullhook, a smirk on his face.

"Cease!" Drago ordered, Hiccup recognized his voice right away and glared at him.

"Riders, to the sky. Stay out of bola, spear, and arrow range!" Hiccup commanded with a wave of his hand.

"I've heard a lot about you dragon rider. I expected more though," Drago chuckled while walking in Hiccup's direction, looking up at him.

"I've heard equally as much about you," Hiccup retorted coldly.

"What's the matter, afraid to to come down and face me yourself? Our fighters have been going at it for an hour now-I say we settle this like men, between yes. You want peace, and I want to power. Winner take all?" Drago offered.

"You've clearly lost your mind if you think I'm going to fight you-I know what you're hiding in that volcano." Hiccup responded to him.

"Ah, so you saw that beautiful creature in there. We're a lot alike-friends almost. Like you and your Night Fury there," Drago grinned.

"We're nothing alike, Drago. You use dragons to control and destroy, we have them as friends and partners." Hiccup hovered over him now. Toothless snarled at the man. "Easy, Toothless..." he rubbed Toothless's neck.

"You think your bond with them means anything?" Drago quirked an eyebrow and laughed. "You're nothing. I control the alpha and no dragon can resist the alpha's command. He who controls the alpha, controls them all."

"You don't have to do this! Dragons are kind, amazing creatures...just let me show you," Hiccup offered to him as he landed Toothless and stepped off him.

"No. Let me, show you!" suddenly, Drago raised his staff and whirled it around. " Ah! Ah!...AH!" the man yelled out as Toothless backed up some, wrapping his tail protectively around Hiccup's waist and growling at Drago. At first there was nothing, then a mass of dragons flew from the volcano exits and heading out of range it seemed. Toothless roared to them to get away, as far as they could. The mountain cracking and splitting was heard, rising from one of the holes was the crown belonging to Red Death-Hiccup would recognize anywhere.

"Get out of range!" Hiccup commanded his riders, they flew farther back but stayed close enough in case he needed help. Their eyes widened when the dragon known as Red Death emerged from the volcano, it was at least one hundred feet tall with a massive head, body, and clubbed tail. Gray with red and blue bumps along the skin. This was really bad all of a sudden. Drago smirked as the Red Death obeyed his motions when the bullhook slammed down to the ground and the Red Death moved slow beside him, roaring out. Drago then pointed the bullhook pointed to Toothless who growled some but Red Death stared intently at Toothless-who then began to twitch some and shake his head. "Toothless?" Hiccup asked watching his friend who appeared to be in pain. "Hey, what's wrong bud?" he tried to reach for him.

"Witness true strength. Strength of will over others. In the face of it, you are nothing." Drago pointed the bullhook at Hiccup as Toothless's eyes turned to slits and he faced Hiccup.

"What did it just tell you?" Hiccup asked backing up some with his hands up. "Toothless?..." he asked again. "Come on, what's the matter with you? No no no, come on, what are you doing? Knock it off," he tried again becoming worried. Did that thing really take control over Toothless? "Stop!" he commanded, "Snap out of it, bud!" Hiccup was getting backed into a corner. "Toothless, no!" he yelled out as everyone watched in fear when Toothless charged a blast in his mouth. "Toothless, don't!"

"HICCUP!" Stoick yelled quickly.

Without warning, a blur shot in front of Hiccup-standing between him and Toothless. The person pushed Hiccup out of the way and then Toothless fire a second later at the figure standing there. There was a blast of purple and then silence. Hiccup recovered and looked over to see a woman laying on the ground. She had long brown hair, tied into three braids going down her back. Toothless stood there, panting as smoke exited his mouth-clearly still under the control of the alpha. Drago only laughed, shrugged.

"I should have known you'd protect him," Drago said, Hiccup looked at him. "How tragic to of never known her and twenty four years later, a last act to say she was sorry for staying away for so long-she protects you and dies doing so. How strong a mother's love," Hiccup's eyes widened, this woman...was his mother? Stoick landed immediately afterwards and hurried over as he cradled the woman in his arms.

"Va-Val...ka?" he whispered and actually began crying as he held the lifeless body in his arms. Hiccup couldn't believe it, this woman-who just saved his life-was his mother?!

"I've had her captive for a year, she's the one who told me all about you dragon riders. After you showed up at the nest three weeks ago, how brave she got out and came to save her little Hiccup..." Drago chuckled. "Now do you see my power, boy? You're nothing..." he grinned. Hiccup didn't know what to say or even do, his mother just died for him-the mother he had believed to be dead since he was old enough to understand, had been alive all this time, and she just saved his life without a second thought. Hiccup's head hung low now as his hand tightened to a fist.

"If it is the last thing I do...I will take you down, Drago." Hiccup vowed as he lifted his head. "You think what you have with that thing is a bond? What you have is power? I'll show you bonding..." he faced Toothless now calmly after taking a breath, "Toothless...hey, it's me bud. It's me, I'm right here...come back to me." he said gently.

"He's not yours anymore, he belongs to the alpha now." Drago laughed, Hiccup ignored him.

"You'd never hurt them, you'd never hurt me..." he pleaded with his hand out, Toothless crooned a bit, shaking his head as his eyes turned from slits to wide once or twice-flickering back and forth as if her were fighting the control. "Please, you...are my best friend bud...My Best Friend," Hiccup said as his hand pressed to Toothless's snout-the eyes remained dilated and the dragon warbled at him, pressing firmly. "I won't leave you, I won't let you go." Drago couldn't believe what he was watching. Toothless backed up and shook his head growling, then he smiled with retracted teeth at Hiccup. "Atta boy! That's it! I'm here," Hiccup smiled.

"Enough!" Drago yelled, the Red Death seemed to get annoyed as it used it's massive paw to smack him against the wall and ignore commands.

"You don't control that thing, you're the one who is nothing! What you saw between Toothless and I, that is what it means to earn a dragon's loyalty. Chain him up," Hiccup ordered his riders. Spitelout and Gobber did so as Hiccup got on Toothless's back and looked up when the dragon roared out at him.

"Hiccup, what are you thinking?" Astrid asked.

"Someone has to stop that thing," Hiccup told her.

"No way, not by yourself!" Stoick said quickly in fear of losing his son.

"I'm the fastest flyer, I can do this. My plan was never gonna work-I knew that. I brought you to take of Drago and you did that...The rest is up to me and Toothless, let's go bud!" Hiccup commanded as the two took to the sky before anyone else could protest him not going. Astrid jumped on Stormfly and went after him-but when she few past the Red Death, it opened her mouth to suck her in, she screamed as Hiccup whipped around-creating the whistle like sound. Toothless fired and got the Red Death to shake it's head while Astrid fell of Stormfly and towards the ground. Hiccup flipped Toothless around and got under her, catching her in his arms. "Stay down!" he ordered placing her down and taking off again.

Astrid panted as she watched with the others while Hiccup flew up and then looked back noticing something. "That thing has wings...Alright, lets see if it can use them!" he called out. They whipped around again as Toothless got in close, fired a blast to knock it down, then they were gone again. The dragon extended it's large wings as Hiccup looked back again. "Think that did it?" he asked Toothless. Suddenly the dragon was right behind them in the air, "Well, it can fly." he added as they led Red Death off the island. It crashed through sea stacks like they were paper while Hiccup and Toothless stayed ahead by a few feet, looking up, Hiccup smiled.

"Alright bud, time to disappear. Come on bud!" Hiccup adjusted the tail and they were headed up for the darkened clouds. Red Death formed the has in it's mouth and fired at the pair, they dodged and disappeared behind the clouds. At first from the ground, they couldn't see a thing-only hear Red Death's growling. They watched close as soon an explosion was seen, then another, and another. It happened about ten more times before they saw a trail of lava it seemed emit from it's mouth that Hiccup and Toothless didn't get away from. Hiccup looked back and saw the fake tail on fire, his eyes widened. "Okay, times up...let's see if this works," he rerouted Toothless to fly past the Red Death again. "Come on! That the best you can do?!" he taunted the beast as he flew down and the dragon followed right behind.

"There they are!" Viggo pointed up seeing them head straight down with the dragon close in range.

"Come on buddy, stay with me. Just a little bit longer..." Hiccup told Toothless as they got closer to the ground. "Hold Toothless..." he heard the hissing of the gas forming in the Red Death's mouth, "NOW!" Toothless flipped around and shot a blast in the Red Death's mouth, making it swallow it's own blast. Hiccup and Toothless flew out of the way and past it as the Red Death put out it's wings to slow it's descent-but to no avail. The blasts made by Toothless put holes in it's wings and it crashed to the island floor-blowing up instantly. The body going up in flames quickly as Hiccup and Toothless were flying up Red Death's tail to escape the explosion.

"Oh no..." Astrid put her hands over her mouth seeing Toothless's fake piece of tail brake off and them start loosing altitude. The two crashed into the clubbed tail hard as Hiccup fell off Toothless's back and towards the fire, Toothless span around and dove after his friend as both disappeared behind the flames.

"Get this smoke outta here!" Viggo commanded, "Nightmare riders, use your wing blasts!" as ordered, they did so and the area seemed to clear of smoke and only falling pieces of hot ash continued to fall like light rain. "Search for the chief!" he directed quickly. The search began, them looking everywhere for Hiccup or Toothless-who was spotted about ten minutes later, lying unconscious on the ground.

"Found Toothless!" someone shouted. Astrid and Stoick shoved their way to the front of the large group seeing Toothless there.

"Hiccup..." Astrid whispered in fear as they ran towards Toothless.

"Son..." Stoick breathed out-afraid his son perished in the blast of the Red Death's defeat. "No, no...not you too..." the man felt tears fill his eyes again. Toothless groaned some, he slowly lifted his head and looked at Stoick and Astrid, then others coming close in fear of the worse that their chief died to protect them.

"Toothless...please? Where is...he, where's Hiccup?" Astrid whimpered out. Toothless closed his eyes as Astrid began crying quietly, the dragon adjusted his wings and opened them to reveal an unconscious Hiccup in his legs. "Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed, Stoick lifted his head and pulled Hiccup into his arms-Astrid pressed her head to his chest and listened. She heard it, his heart was beating! "He's alive!" she called out as relief washed over everyone.

"His leg is gone, we need to get him back to Berk or he won't make it," Viggo said quickly as Toothless forced himself up and shook his head some.

"We'll use the ships since Toothless can't fly," Astrid nodded as Viggo and Stoick together lifted Hiccup's figure and took him to the ships, Toothless climbed on and laid down on the deck as others were preparing to get on the ships or mount of to go home too. Drago got free of Spitelout and Gobber as he grabbed a dagger and charged for Astrid, she gasped in fear-but to everyone's shock, Madguts of the Murderus Tribe got between the dagger and her. He went down in pain as Drago was tackled down again and retied up, then chained unable to get free again.

"Easy there, Madguts...you'll be fine." Gobber said while wrapping the wound, "We got yer men too. We're all going back to Berk..." he added. From there, sure enough-the ships began to sail, being pulled by dragons as others were flying back and carrying one or two Murderus Tribe members with them. They only had an hour or so to go-all praying Hiccup would be alright. He lost his left leg-and was currently unconscious with no idea how long he'd be in that state or how he'd take to knowing he didn't have his leg anymore. More shocking news of today's fight was that Stoick's first wife, Valka had been alive all these years and Drago's prisoner for one of them-she broke free and gave her life to save Hiccup's. Today had been interesting, sad, scary but all in all. The war was over, and peace would return to the Archipelago.


	30. Chapter 30

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 30**

~Normal POV~

Returning to Berk, Hiccup's unconscious form was taken straight to Eydis's and Gothi's for treatment. Thankfully, though his leg was gone-the wound wasn't bleeding, it appeared to be singed closed and would take quite a bit of time to heal according to Gothi who had informed Gobber after they got him bandaged up and resting on the bed in there. Madguts had also been taken care of, the wound hadn't been deep. All the chieftains wanted to stay and wait for Hiccup to wake up, so they sent messages back to their islands about the situation. Heather, Camicazi, and Thuggary covered Berserk, Bog, and Meathead. Alvin, Madguts, Gunvor, Oyvind, and Asgeir sent their second in commands back to handle things while the chieftains would remain on Berk for Hiccup to wake up. The man nearly lost his life to protect not just Berk, but all of their island. It was the least they could do, wait for him to recover and awake so they could thank him personally.

Astrid took it upon herself to inform Tore, Hagen, and Milla about what happened while Viggo covered telling the Tribe about the defeat of Red Death and Drago. Speaking of Drago-he was taken right to one of the dragon proof cells in the prison and guarded heavily by guards and dragons. It was Hiccup's call on what happened to him-there were a lot of crimes to charge him with. After three days in the healer hut, Hiccup was allowed to be moved back to his house to recover there and Toothless of course being as loyal as he is-refused to leave Hiccup's side the entire time so the others would bring him food and water. There was no knowing when Hiccup would awaken, Gothi's best estimate was a week-but no definite of that diagnosis. Viggo was tending the village in their chief's absence, it was his job to do so when Hiccup couldn't.

(A Week Later)

Hiccup continued to show no signs of waking up, he just laid there still and breathing-it was the only thing anyone had to go on that he was alive. Tore and Hagen had begun working on something for their father, a new leg or something close to that. It was just a little gift that they hoped he'd like when he found out he lost his leg in the battle with Red Death. Thus far it had a few gears in it and slots for the ends to rotate while being swapped. This new leg is able to change ends when turned, with one end designed for when flying with Toothless and the other used for when walking, and able to switch between the two settings with ease. The third part was like a blade with teeth for ice. The boys also used their father's original tail designs to make something for Toothless. It was just like the old one, only this had the piece that worked with Hiccup's new leg-well, when he woke up and got to try it out. Now all they had to do was wait for their father to recover, everyone hoped it would be soon. **(A/N: Think the leg and tail rig from the second movie!)**

(Two More Weeks Pass)

It had been eighteen days since the defeat of Red Death-Hiccup still lay in his bed on the main level of the Haddock house, Toothless sitting on his hind legs and staring at his friend and rider intently seeing him start groaning lightly and moving his head slightly side to side. Toothless crooned lowly and sniffed him, blowing his auburn bangs a bit from their spot. Finally Hiccup's eyes shifted some, fluttering and opening slowly-gaining his sight back slowly while things came into focus. Toothless whined some and nudged him a few times, Hiccup looked at him with a smile.

"Hey, Toothless..." Hiccup said softly as Toothless smiled and nudged him again warbling lowly, purring to try and get his friend to sit up. "I'm happy to see you too, bud," Hiccup smiled with his hands on the sides of his dragon's head, Toothless licked him, paws now on the edge of the bed-but accidentally stepped on his midsection which forced Hiccup to sit up quickly, then he noticed where he was. In his house. "I'm in my house?" he asked. Toothless began to jump around happily, "Okay, okay...settle down bud. Gimme a minute to figure all this out...how'd we get back here?" he inquired now trying to recall everything but it was fuzzy and his head hurt. Hiccup put his hands on the blanket covering him when he noticed something different about the left side of his leg.

Pulling back the covers, his eyes widened seeing what was there instead of his leg from just below the knee and down. Some form of wooden piece, then a metal something or other-he assume to replace his foot. He lost his leg? Toothless came beside him warbling a bit. "What...happened Toothless?" he asked quietly. The dragon moved his mouth to the piece and sniffed it sadly, Hiccup took a few deep breaths as he held on to the wooden post of the bed and forced himself up slowly, then tried to take a step. It hurt a little, he tried once more and fell forward-but Toothless caught him. "Okay, nice and slow now..." Hiccup said as the two moved to the door of the house, Hiccup trying to get used to the new leg-got a little easier to walk on with each step.

Hiccup grabbed the handle to the door and pulled it open, slightly blinded by the bright light of the sun in his eyes. When he could see again, he saw how different things looked-there were so many dragons flying around. People on them, working with them, riding them. When had this happened? How long was he out after the fight with Red Death-that was the last thing he remembered, going to fight her.

"I knew it...I'm dead." he muttered some in shock seeing all that he did. Toothless sat down as he let out a loud roar, things in the village stopped as they looked towards the house and saw Hiccup standing there.

"He's awake!" someone shouted, soon there was a rush of vikings and dragons coming towards him, first to break through was Tore, Hagen, and Milla.

"Dad!" they yelled, Milla jumped into his arms hugging him tightly, crying while his son's hugged him next.

"There's my kids..." Hiccup smiled, "See, I'm alright." he added.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!" Astrid yelled loudly, Hiccup bit back. Oh, he was in trouble when she used his full name. Astrid marched right up to him as he put Milla on Toothless's back and the boys stepped back, Astrid punched him in the gut as he hissed in pain, "That's for scaring me," before he could say anything, Astrid grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him close, locking her lips with his. "That was for everything else..." she said gently.

"Good to see you awake, son." Stoick patted his shoulder some as Astrid handed Destin to Hiccup so he could hug him.

"How long was I out, what happened?" Hiccup asked confused now.

"Let's get you something to eat first, you've been unconscious for eighteen days since the fight with Red Death." Viggo informed. He was out eighteen days!? He was going to argue but he was hungry so he'd agree to eat. "We'll catch you up to speed in the Great Hall, chief." Hiccup nodded and walked slow on the new leg towards the hall, everyone giving him his space since it was a lot to take in. Once Hiccup was at the main table with his kids and wife, the others seemed gather around. Madguts brought over a plate of food for him, handing it to Astrid and stepping back when Hiccup glared at him-obviously not knowing what took place after he was unconscious.

"I thought I told you to stay away from my wife and kids..." Hiccup warned.

"No, no. Hiccup, it's okay. Madguts is an ally to us..." Astrid said quickly.

"Excuse me?" Hiccup arched a brow at her.

"You were unconscious when it happened. We were leaving the volcano island, Drago broke free of Spitelout and Gobber-he tried to stab me and Madguts stepped in between me and Drago...he saved my life, Hiccup." Astrid told him slowly.

"You saved my wife from Drago?..." Hiccup asked.

"Aye, chief Hiccup...I did. I took the dagger meant for her, my way...of apologizing for my actions previously regarding her and your children. You risked your life fighting that dragon, to not just save your island-but all of ours too." Madguts told him calmly.

"Alright...someone needs to explain to me what the hell happened because I don't remember a thing after Toothless was being controlled by Red Death..." Hiccup said as Astrid put the food in front of him.

"Eat first..." Astrid told him. Hiccup took a few bites and looked at her to start explaining. "We can't give you a whole lot, babe. Most of it was you in the air with Toothless taking on Red Death by yourself..." Astrid sighed.

"Start with what happened after Red Death took control of Toothless, all I recall is him backing me into a corner under her command..." Hiccup stated.

"Well, Drago made Red Death take control of Toothless and he went to blast you but someone ran out in front of you and got hit when Toothless fired...it was a woman, Drago...called her your mother and...Stoick confirmed that it was her. Apparently, Drago had her captive for a year with him and...hearing you were in trouble, she broke free and went to save you..." Gobber began softly. Hiccup's eyes widened some, so that wasn't a dream-his mother...really had saved his life.

"After that, you swore to Drago that if it was the last thing you did-you'd take him down. You broke through Red Death's control on Toothless by talking to him and doing the hand thing. Red Death swatted Drago away and had Gobber and Spitelout lock him up, you went after Red Death alone. Astrid tried to help-but almost got herself killed, you saved her and told her to stay down while you headed off again. You blasted Red Death, and then both of you and that thing were in the sky-it chasing after Toothless and you," Viggo continued.

"You led it past the dark clouds and shot a bunch of blasts off, then it gave off a long line of fire that I guess caused Toothless's tail to catch on fire and you started flying straight down-" Astrid stopped when she saw Hiccup put a hand to his head.

"It was...something I learned with Toothless and a Terrible Terror. That...dragons, aren't fire proof on the inside. When Red Death collected enough gas in it's mouth-Toothless shot a blast in it's mouth and caused it to catch fire. The blasts we'd fired at it's wings caused holes to form and when it couldn't slow it's descent to the ground-we flew off out of range. Red Death died on impact and caused an explosion. Toothless and I flew up it's tail...Toothles's tail broke off because of the fire and we hit the tail. I fell off him and...I don't remember anything after that. I'm assuming it's when I passed out..." Hiccup finished, now recalling the events in pieces.

Toothless warbled at him, whining almost. "What's he saying?" Asgeir asked.

"I don't know, I don't speak dragon...What is it bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless. The dragon seemed to sit back some and point to himself, then to Hiccup. "You and me, I know we defeated Red Death. How did we survive the explosion?" he said now. Toothless motioned to Hiccup's missing leg, then his mouth, finally he spread his wings and shielded Hiccup with them before stepping back.

"Anyone else confused here?" Snotlout asked. Hiccup looked at his dragon questioningly, then his eyes widened as he figured it out.

"It was you who saved me, wasn't it, Toothless?" Hiccup asked, Toothless nodded to him.

"I'm not following, Hiccup..." Astrid tilted her head some.

"I understand what happened now. When I fell off Toothless and passed out, he dove after me and pulled me in his wings when we hit the fire of the explosion. Toothless couldn't grab me with his wings, so he bit my leg to stop my falling so he could wrap his wings around me so I wouldn't burn in the fire. Toothless bit too hard and...took my leg off." Hiccup said as Toothless closed his eyes sadly.

"Wait...Toothless bit your leg off?!" a few asked in shock.

"He did it to save me, he didn't mean too. Besides, now we're even...aren't we bud. I took your tail and you took my leg..." Hiccup smiled some as he hugged Toothless around the neck, the dragon crooned and nuzzled into the hug from his friend. "If he hadn't done it, I wouldn't be here right now...Thank you, Toothless." Hiccup said, Toothless licked his cheek smiling. "So now I'm curious, who built the leg?" he asked now.

"Hagen and I did. We thought it might cheer you up slightly once you woke up, we also built Toothless a new tail to work with the leg." Tore smiled.

"You two were in the forge and built this?" Hiccup blinked.

"We learned from the best, Dad." Hagen said, Hiccup smiled some. "And your leg has some new features too, sit down and we'll show ya." he added. Hiccup sat down as the watched the boys show him what they meant about the leg having features. There were three pieces that changed to how he twisted the metal part on the wood that sat against his stump. One for walking, one to fly with, the other was to handle walking on ice. "What do ya think?"

"I love it. Nice work boys, now how does the flying piece work?" Hiccup asked. Tore grinned as he rushed out of the hall and then returned and put everything on Toothless before stepping back.

"Okay so get on him and will talk you though it," Tore instructed. Hiccup climbed in the saddle as the boys adjusted his legs into position. "We made some mods to it. The right pedal will still allow you to control the tails position and the left now was created to fit your new leg. This nick here connects to this and when you push it forward it will open his tail up and this lever here will lock it in place so he can glide or dive without a problem, or without you on his back. However, he will be unable to turn on his own and you are still needed to do that. The saddle is made longer so you can lay on him to allow more speed by being streamlined with his body, there are the hooks for your belt, and handles to hold on to when lying along him." the younger twin explained.

"And it won't interfere with his back spines when they split apart when he takes on alpha mode," Hagen added.

"Alpha mode?" Hiccup questioned.

"The glowing blue thing. It's what they call it, Toothless is the alpha now. Because the dragons see him as their leader for defeating Red Death. It's why there are so many dragons on Berk, they came with us after Red Death was gone. They obey him," Astrid explained.

"Huh, guess you're like me after all, Toothless. I'm chief and you're alpha," Hiccup chuckled rubbing his head then he looked over to his father sadly-he knew the man was probably really upset that his wife had been alive all this time and the next time he saw her, she was giving her life to save their son. Him. "Where's Drago?" Hiccup asked.

"Locked in the prison, guarded heavily by dragons and soldiers." Ryker informed, Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "Let's go bud. We got answers to get." Without another word, Toothless roared out and rushed out the door taking to the sky and heading for the prison hold.

(Prison; Drago's Cell)

Hiccup left Toothless outside as he entered slow and stood before the cell seeing Drago just sitting against the floor, "Leave us." Hiccup ordered the guards, they nodded with a bow and left the area.

"So you're alive after losing a limb, even got a nice little replacement for it. We aren't so different," Drago remarked with a chuckle as he got up and unclipped something, showing Hiccup that his left arm was missing from the shoulder down. "My village was destroyed by dragons, but instead of living in fear of them-I rose above it and took control," he said.

"I don't care about that. What do you know about my mother?" Hiccup asked, Drago scoffed.

"Why should I tell you?" Drago asked.

"Because if you don't, I have no reason to continue to let you live..." Hiccup warned, Drago chuckled and sighed some looking up.

"Your mother never died when she was taken by that dragon. She was taken to a nest full of them, she saw that they weren't bad and decided to live among them-rescuing them from the tyranny of heartless vikings who wanted to kill them-mainly me. She's always been around, watching her little boy grow up, becoming a father, husband, dragon rider... 'Bout a year ago, I captured her and held her captive with me. I realized she knew you when she whispered your name after you left the base the first time..." Drago told him as Hiccup only listened, "With my men focused on the fight, she got out and rushed in to protect you when I had your dragon under my alpha's control...one last act to save the son who never knew she was alive," the man laughed as Hiccup tightened his fist. "A mother's love is so strong, she got her wish-to see her baby boy one more time,"

"You're going to pay for all you've done, Drago..." Hiccup stated before walking away from the cell, "Return to your posts until further orders," he told the guards as he left the prison hold, seeing a few others there. Hiccup only closed his eyes while he got on Toothless's back and opened the tail.

"Hiccup, where are you going? What's wrong?" Astrid asked.

"I just need a little time, Astrid..." Hiccup said quietly, "Let's go, bud..." Toothless took off fast, when Hiccup was in the sky-he yelled out as loud as he could before laying back on Toothless and panting, staring at the sky above. His mother had been alive and always around watching him grow up-but never returned. Made sense why Drago smirked the day he first learned of Red Death-his mother had said his name and Drago forced her to tell him who the rider was. So the mother he had believed to be dead for twenty three years-was now actually dead because she gave her life to save him. And that was something he now had to live with for the rest of his life. Hiccup sighed heavily while lying there-he didn't want to go back to the village right now, he needed to clear his head before Drago's trial. He just needed some time alone-to grieve the loss of the mother he knew knew and now...never would.


	31. Chapter 31

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 31**

~Normal POV~

A lot of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe members were worried for their chief who had only just woke up from being out for eighteen days-and now something had angered him and he was off flying somewhere. Astrid assured them that he would return before nightfall-that he needed time to clear his head after whatever happened to him took place. Stoick took it upon himself to speak with Drago about whatever that was and found out that Hiccup had inquired about his mother and how everything happened. Stoick was shocked to discover that Valka had been alive, that she'd been rescuing dragons from humans who wanted to hurt them, watching Hiccup grow up from a distance, also that she had been Drago's prisoner for a year. It was a lot to take in-but Stoick held firm and said the very same as Hiccup had: that Drago would pay for what he had done. Toothless's blast killed Valka-but he was only under the control of Red Death, who was following Drago's orders. It was Drago's fault and the crimes would not go unpunished.

Hiccup hadn't gone far, just a few miles or so away from Berk. Flying always seemed to calm him down, and that's what he needed right now after hearing everything he had from Drago about his mother. Around midday, the two stopped on a small island Northwest of Berk and got something to eat since Hiccup was indeed hungry after being unconscious for so long. They just ate fish, cooked by Toothless's fire and relaxed there.

"I guess I gotta get back, huh bud?" Hiccup asked while lying against his friend. The dragon warbled some in response, though there wasn't words, Hiccup knew what he was saying. "Still gotta deal with Drago, and Mom's final resting ceremony..." Hiccup sighed-he knew they'd likely covered up his mother and placed her somewhere until he woke up. As chief, it was his job to perform the ceremony. Nothing big-but he still had to lead it by saying a few words and sending her out to see. She was the former chieftess of Berk because she'd been married to his father, the ceremony had to be done per traditions. What a great day this was turning out to be. Woke up, discovered he was missing a leg, recalled everything, and learned a truth he almost wished he hadn't.

After another fifteen minutes, the two got ready and left the island to return to Berk. First it would be the ceremony, then he'd deal with Drago's punishment. When all that was done, he honestly just wanted to eat dinner and go back to sleep. Even though he just woke up an hour or so ago-he was still tired. Reaching Berk about twenty minutes later, he landed right by his and his father's house.

"Son, you're back..." Stoick said as he was just exiting after hearing Toothless's alert they were back. "Are you okay? I know what Drago told you..." Hiccup put his hand up to stop him quickly.

"I don't need the reminder. Where is...my mother's body?" Hiccup forced out as calmly as he could.

"Being stored-she's covered under a blanket until the ceremony," Stoick replied to him.

"Let's not prolong it any longer then," Hiccup sighed some as Viggo flew over to him, "Bring my mother's body to Thor's beach and then gather the village, please..."

"Of course chief," Viggo nodded and headed off. Hiccup entered his house and got his formal chief wear, even the helmet too. The young chief took a deep breath, he didn't want to do this-but he had too. Hiccup sat there quietly in his and Astrid's room waiting for awhile until he knew everyone would be gathered on the beach for the ceremony. After another fifteen minutes, he finally stood and exited the house with Toothless-flying to the beach and setting down ahead of the crowd there. "I've done as you asked chief," Viggo bowed gently.

"And I got you a bow and arrow," Ryker added handing the two objects to him. Hiccup took them slowly, he noticed Astrid standing with the kids. What sucked most about all this, the day wasn't even over yet.

"Whenever you're ready son..." Stoick said to him, Hiccup took a deep breath.

"Ready to lay my mother to rest who I believed was dead twenty three years ago? And gave her life to save mine? Never." Hiccup replied with a sigh and closing his eyes. "We all know what happened all those years ago, the fateful night that Valka Haddock was grabbed by a dragon and carried off-never seen again and assumed to of died. I always wondered what she'd be like, what my life would have been like if my mother hadn't been taken. I heard so many stories growing up about how different she was from the others, even that...I was just like her with not being a dragon killer...guess all that is true." he opened his eyes now.

"All this time, I've believed my mother was dead, and in truth she was alive and watching as I journeyed through the last twenty three years of my life. She watched me grow up from afar become chief of Cloud Rider Isle, become a father, become a husband, the birth of my daughter." he lowered his head a bit looking at the spot where his mother's body lay on the small wooden ship-often called a pyre, "I always had this feeling I was being watched, someone watching over me. It always brought me comfort in times of fear, worry, or sadness. Growing up, the one thing I wished for was to be able to see my mother again, just once. I guess I got my wish-but not in the way I expected. This..." he motioned to the pyre, "is not how I wanted to see her again. Having died to save my life...I never got to know her...and now, I never will..."

"Stories I heard was that she didn't like to fight dragons either, she wanted peace. I suppose I've done what she wanted-I showed the whole of the Archipelago the peace that exists between dragons and vikings. I wonder even now if that makes her proud to know. I know she'll always be with me, just in another way." Beside him, Toothless lit the log he would light his arrow on. "May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin's great battle field. May they sing your name with love and fury so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla and know you've take your place at the table of greats before you-for a wonderful woman has fallen. A wife, a chieftess, a mother, a friend..."

Gobber and Stoick pushed the ship out to sea and everyone lowered their heads while their chief spoke the words of aq fallen warrior and chieftess. After ten minutes, Hiccup set the arrow in position as he lit the tip and then brought it back on the string and took aim, he released the arrow as a tear fell from his eye. The arrow shot through the sky and landed on the ship as it began to burn. Following him was Stoick, Gobber, Astrid, Tore, Hagen, Viggo, Eret, and Ryker firing an arrow for her memory. The ship lit ablaze and everyone just watched it burn slowly. Hiccup just stood there on the edge of the beach watching, he wasn't sure what to do right now.

A dragon flew onto the beach and beside Hiccup, the beast crooned sadly it seemed watching the ship before them. The dragon nuzzled Hiccup as he looked over the dragon, something pulling at his memories-a distant one from the past. Hiccup didn't understand why he felt...connected to it almost. "Have...we met before?" he asked and the dragon looked at him, nodding once. The dragon moved in front of him and lifted it's claw up, motioning to the scar on Hiccup's chin. Being so close to his face now, Hiccup's eyes seemed to widen in shock.

"Hiccup, are you okay?" Astrid asked quickly as Hiccup took a few deep breaths.

The dragon lifted it's foot and unclenched the talons to reveal a rolled note there. Hiccup took it and began to read once he unrolled it, eyes widening again. "What...is it son?" Stoick asked.

"It's...from mom..." he said gently, "She said: _Dearest son. Forgive me if you're seeing this-it means I've passed on and Cloud Jumper has found you to give you this message. I'm so sorry for being away for so long-but I feared no one would listen if I returned with the dragon who took me and preached of peace being possible. I feared the dragon's being killed. The night Cloud Jumper took me, I saw their kind and caring nature first hand. The cradle rocked and he accidentally cut your chin-it's where that scar comes from. Your father scared Cloud Jumper. I was taken after realizing our souls reflected one another. He took me because he knew I could help the dragons stay safe. Cloud Jumper will take you to our nest so you can help the dragons I've rescued. The Bewilderbeast is there too, he is the king of all dragons-an alpha and can use ice for his blasts, he'll help you carry out my mission. I have always watched over you my son, and even in death-I will continue to do so. Please tell your father that I'm happy that he moved on and had another child. I love you both so very much, take care of Cloud Jumper for me and continue to spread peace. I always knew you'd do great things, my son. All my love, your mother, Valka Haddock_." Hiccup lowered the paper as Cloud Jumper nuzzled his face with a purr.

"So this dragon, Cloud Jumper, is the one who gave you that scar and took your mother?" Gobber blinked in surprise, so did Stoick.

"Seems that way. So you're...Cloud Jumper, and you know how to get to my mother's nest?" Hiccup asked as the dragon nodded to him. "Well, we won't leave them to be alone. We'll go first thing tomorrow morning, okay?" he said rubbing under Cloud Jumper's chin with a smile-then it faded. "Bring out Drago to village square." he commanded firmly. "The rest of you, return to the village." he wasn't prolonging this either.

"What are you doing?" Astrid asked.

"Making sure there aren't anymore problems. Take the kids home, you too." he said as she frowned somewhat but didn't argue with him. Everyone cleared off the beach and returned to the village, staying in their homes as ordered to. The only ones out were Hiccup's council members and the other chieftains to watch Drago's trial-which was sure to be guilty and punished within the next fifteen minutes or so. Viggo and Ryker brought Drago out and before Hiccup, the council members on either side of him and the chieftains watching intently. "You know what you've done, I don't think charge reading is necessary. Does anyone else?" he asked now.

"No. He knows his acts against the Archipelago. I say we move right to punishment," Bertha huffed.

"He doesn't deserve life, I suggest we kill him and send a message to anyone else with the bright idea to disturb the peace of the islands that we won't stand for it any longer." Alvin remarked with his hands over his chest. Dagur and Asgeir nodding in agreement.

"I'd prefer a vote before we just go offing him," Gunvor stated.

"Gunvor, for Odin's sake-the man took control of dragons and killed people for not bowing down to him. He held my former wife captive for a year and when she finally got free, she gave her life to save our son who was about to be killed by his dragon who was under the control of Red Death. This scum doesn't deserve to live," Stoick stated.

"Gunvor is right. He committed acts against everyone-it's only fitting we take a vote..." Hiccup sighed. "All in favor of sparing, raise your hand."

"Aye," Madguts, Gunvor, Oyvind, Hella, Bertha, and Fishlegs raised their hands.

"In favor of killing?" Hiccup asked as Stoick, Gobber, Alvin, Dagur, Asgeir, Mogadon, and even Hiccup raised their hands.

"Settles it, he dies then." Stoick retorted. Viggo and Ryker forced Drago to his knees and removed his armor leaving him in just his tunic top, boots, and pants. Hiccup sighed, this would be the first time he ever had to kill another human being-but they couldn't just punish him. He could escape, start more trouble. This was the only way to end it for good. Hiccup stepped before Drago and pulled his sword out from the sheathe hanging on his back.

"The punishment so voted by the chieftains of the Archipelago and council of Berk, is death." Viggo announced. It fell silent as Hiccup stared at Drago intently-the man didn't seem to care that he was about to die, clear sign he felt no remorse about what happened. It only filled Hiccup with more anger, he put the sword away leaving a few confused at what he was doing. Hiccup moved behind Drago and locked his arms around his neck, choking him out. Hiccup closed his eyes as he jerked his arms and cracked Drago's neck-the man's body fell limp as Hiccup released him and backed up, allow Drago to fall to the ground. Toothless warbled sadly as Hiccup started walking away.

"Get rid of the body, and everyone just...do whatever I guess. I'd like to be left alone if no one minds," he jumped on Toothless's back and took to the sky.

"Why wouldn't he be happy about this?" Dagur asked.

"Hiccup is a gentle soul like Valka was, he hates killing-dragon and human. He didn't want to do that, he did it because he had to for the greater good of the Archipelago," Gobber sighed. "Give the lad his time," he added. Everyone began to split off and return to whatever it is they were doing. The time after all was only around 3pm, still more work to be done. Viggo gave the clear it was okay for everyone to come back out after they'd tossed Drago's body in the ocean, Astrid inquired about how it went and was told Hiccup killed Drago-she frowned a bit knowing he hadn't wanted to do such a thing, also that he wanted to be alone right now.

Hours passed before Hiccup returned and noticed with it being dark that everyone was in their homes and likely eating dinner or preparing for bed. It had been a long day after all: Hiccup waking up, funeral for his mother, death of Drago. Hiccup just wanted to get home and get some sleep after he checked on his wife and kids. Snoggletog was coming up in a few weeks, the boys were turning sixteen in about a week. So much going on, and he wanted to be in a better mood for it. Hiccup reached his home after checking in with Eret and Viggo about things-when given the clear, he felt a little relieved that things ran smoothly in his absence. Hiccup put his hand on the door and opened it, walking in and Toothless following.

"Hiccup, you're home..." Astrid said gently-relieved of course but still concerned.

"Yeah," he nodded, Milla rushed to him and jumped in his arms giggling.

"Is the mean man gone, Daddy?" Milla asked.

"Yes, he is princess. He can never hurt us or the dragons again." Hiccup smiled some to his only daughter.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Tore asked.

"I'm fine boys, thank you for worrying though." Hiccup replied calmly.

"Are you hungry, we saved you some dinner?" Astrid offered to him.

"I am a little hungry. Being knocked out for eighteen days takes it's toll on ya," he chuckled a bit as they brought him over his food so he could eat his dinner. Milla sat in his lap while he did so-they were all glad that things could finally go back to normal with Drago gone from their lives. Hiccup ate happily, feeling somewhat better. The rest of the night was calm for them-Milla was put to bed around 8pm, then the twins following at 9:30pm, Destin had his feeding at 10:30pm and then was put to sleep. Hiccup locked up their house and took Astrid upstairs to their room. They got off their outer clothing and nestled into bed comfortably, her laying in his arms with a smile.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Astrid asked him softly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Not proud of what I had to do today is all," he sighed looking at the dark ceiling.

"You did what you had to, babe. We can't risk a madman like him alive..." Astrid tried to assure her husband that what he did was the right thing. Hiccup looked over at her, staring into her blue eyes that were illuminated by the glow of the moon. Hiccup leaned in and kissed her deeply, she returned it with a smile.

"What would I do without you by my side, Astrid. Seriously...all this is because you believed in me..." Hiccup whispered to her.

"No, Hiccup. You did this, because you chose to be different than the rest. All I did was give you a little push," she said. Hiccup adjusted a bit and kissed her more deeply than before. Astrid melted into it as Hiccup climbed over her and she gasped out a bit at his actions. "What are you doing?" she inquired.

"Making love to my wife, what does it look like?" Hiccup replied.

"B-but...Destin is right there..." Astrid exclaimed. Hiccup grinned a bit and kissed her again, his hands falling on her breasts after slipping under her gray shirt.

"I guess you better keep your voice down then," Hiccup warned gently as Astrid blushed deeply and nodded to him knowing he was going to keep going with her because he was in the mood and somehow his touch always managed to put her in to mood too. Hiccup kissed her again, passionately.

 **(Lemon Below)**

True to his words, she remained quiet-they both did. All their kids were on the second floor and light sleepers at that. Hiccup sat Astrid up some and removed her shirt and breast bindings, he laid her back down afterwards and continued kissing her deeply as his hands roamed her body. Astrid reached for the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off him and tossed it in the pile on the floor beside the bed. Hiccup's hands reached her leggings and pulled them off her before moving between her legs to eat her out-fingering her as well a few minutes later. Astrid fought back the moaning-her panting was easy to hear though. Hiccup kept up his actions for about ten minutes before getting off her to remove his pants which had to be taken off by him since he had to deal with the leg attachment.

When both were nude, Hiccup moved his hips between her legs and pushed his hardened length within her hot core-she bit her lower lip to keep from moaning out. Hiccup kept his hands on either side of her while moving in slow thrusts so they didn't wake Destin up.

"Gods, Hiccup...more, please?" she whispered pleadingly. Hiccup began to move a little faster in his motions, he loved pleasing his wife-hearing the sounds escaping her lips of asking for more from him.

"We haven't...done this since...Destin was conceived..." Hiccup reminded as he leaned down and kissed her again, she returned it while locking her arms around his neck and pulling him down against her while he was still thrusting hard and fast.

"I...know. Ah...it feels so...go-good..." Astrid moaned gently.

"Gods it does..." Hiccup answered while trying to keep his own sounds of pleasure from going too high. The two kept it up another hour or so-remaining in the one position so not to wake their sleeping child, Hiccup and Astrid were both at their climaxes. "Astrid...I'm gonna cum..." Hiccup panted.

"Mmm, m-me...too..." Astrid gripped his arms as she arched a bit off the bed and released, her juices covering his length. The feeling of her tightening sent him over the edge as he came within her core, both panting hard-he waited until falling soft to pull out. He fell beside her, the two enjoying the pleasure that rode over them in waves. The took deep breaths while calming down, Hiccup pulled the covers over them and she snuggled close on his arm, hers over his midsection. "We really...need to do that more often," she smiled.

 **(End Lemon)**

Hiccup chuckled a bit, "You forget we have kids?" he answered as she nodding, obviously not forgetting."And I'm the chief," he added on.

"I haven't forgotten but still...Gods, I miss doing it..." Astrid pouted some.

"I'll try to make more time for it...if you find babysitters when you want to do it." Hiccup smiled at her.

"Done and done!" she exclaimed quietly, "I love you, Hiccup,"

"I love you too, Astrid." he replied and then the two shared another kiss before they relaxed and finally let sleep take them ten minutes later. 


	32. Chapter 32

**Something New**

Rating; M for Mature

Parings; HiccupXAstrid, FishlegsXHeather, RuffnutXSnotlout, TuffnutXCamicazi

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD movies, series, or mini-shorts.

 **Chapter 32**

~Hiccup's POV~

I had really needed that, making love to my wife a week ago. We hadn't done it since Destin was conceived-felt good to do it again. How had I known she'd want to do it more after that? Because I know my wife well, she's predictable like that. Originally that next morning I was going to take a team to my mother's nest to bring the dragons there back to Berk-but Astrid ended up with a cold, and stomachache so I postponed it awhile until I knew she was okay again. The boys were busy taking care of Milla while I care for Destin and Astrid, made sense not to leave for the nest until she was feeling better. Plus, she wanted to go as well-and I couldn't deny her that request. Viggo would watch the village while we were away for a week or so. Others who wanted to come with us was of course, Stoick and then a couple others who were curious so to avoid taking a lot, I agreed to only take: Astrid, Ryker, Tore, Hagen, Ruffnut, Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs. Milla and Destin would be staying on Berk with Anya.

We didn't need a large group for this, I knew that much. What had me curious was this Bewilderbeast my mother spoke of in her letter. An alpha dragon, the king of dragons as she called it that could use ice blasts? It was unheard of for a dragon to use ice but I supposed it wasn't not possible either. I would have to see for myself when we arrived at the nest-Cloud Jumper was leading us all there since he knew the way. It was still surreal to me to know this dragon was the one who took my mother twenty three years ago. I honestly couldn't wait to arrive and see all this-then round them up to bring back to Berk, and the alpha too. Wouldn't this be fun to do? I hoped so! In more interesting news, the other chieftains had gone home-we made arrangements to meet up again after I did all this with bringing the dragons back to Berk in order to sign alliance contracts and what not.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called my name, I glanced over to the direction of her voice. I strolled over with Toothless following me, I kissed her cheek gently.

"You called, Milady?" I smiled at her.

"Destin isn't feeling well so I'm gonna stay back from the trip to the nest to take care of him while Anya watches Milla," Astrid informed as I frowned some. I didn't like that my youngest son was sick-but Astrid would take good care of him.

"You sure you're gonna be okay with him?" I asked softly.

"Yeah, I'll be okay and Eydis will be helping too. Are you taking the boys still?" Astrid questioned.

"Of course I am. We won't be gone long, hopefully." I told her gently, she nodded as we shared a kiss before she returned to our house while I went to the Great Hall where the others I was taking with me were waiting for me to get there. I had originally been waiting for Astrid-and now I knew why she was running behind. I reached the Great Hall and walked in with Toothless.

"You're late, Dad." Hagen chuckled.

"The chief is never late, everyone else is early." I remarked before ruffling his hair some. "Astrid is gonna stay behind, Destin is sick." I added calmly to them.

"Well, we're ready when you are." Ryker smiled.

"Let's hit the sky!" I called out to them, we all quickly left the Great Hall and mounted our dragons as I gave a whistle to Cloud Jumper who came flying over towards the small group of us. "Alright, Cloud Jumper-take us to the nest," I told the four winged dragons-learned it a few days back that Cloud Jumper actually had two sets of wings. Cloud Jumper roared out and took to the sky as the rest of us did the same, the dragon now headed in the direction of Northwest from Berk and we followed enthusiastically.

(Two Days Later)

A few storms and having to eat grounded us several times on other islands. A lot of abandoned ones Northwest it turned out, but also a lot of not friendly dragons ones too. Changewings, Whispering Deaths, etc. Was better to just stay above it all and keep going unless we absolutely had to stop. But finally, we were over water-iced over and slightly foggy. We hoped we'd see land soon, a lot of us were tired and ready to sleep. It was late, going on 7pm by my guess. I kept my eyes ahead of my on Cloud Jumper who was leading the group to the nest.

"Cloud Jumper!" I called to him now as he fell back some and flew along side Toothless and I. "How close are we?" I inquired, the dragon looked ahead again as I began to see peaks of teal colored ice and then looked back to him. "Is that the nest?" the dragon nodded to me.

"Is that it up ahead, Hiccup?" Fishlegs questioned.

"Cloud Jumper says so. Lead us in," I told the dragon, as it headed forward and took us around the back to an opening there-he flew and we all followed being careful of the spikes and rocks along the way in. Cloud Jumper roared out as other dragons began to awaken and look at us arriving, a few began to snarl and others were curious. Cloud Jumper kept them back with croons and what not it seemed-sounded like he was telling them that we weren't dangerous. All of us dismounted from our dragons and looked around, it was amazing to see. I found myself questioning how my mother lived here all those years ago. The dragons soon relaxed and made a path for us leading to more rock formations, Cloud Jumper motioned for us to follow him.

"Are we following him?" Stoick asked, I nodded and we all began moving behind Cloud Jumper, it took about two minutes to get through it all before I opened my eyes to see what appeared to be the heart of the nest. Covered in rocks and ice-ledges everywhere, a center tower that mass amounts of dragons were flying around. Other were just lounging about on the grassy fields. I couldn't believe all I saw, my mother was living here?! It was amazing and beautiful.

"Wow..." Tore and Hagen smiled wide now.

"Look at all the baby dragons..." Ruffnut squealed some. Cloud Jumper made a noise at me and I moved towards the edge of something and looked over seeing a massive white and black dragon, my eyes widened in disbelief at the sight.

"Is that...the Bewilderbeast?" I asked Cloud Jumper who gave a nod to me, and bow to the dragon. Following suit, I also offered one as the dragon lifted some and his head became level with my body-it seemed to be inspecting me before blowing a cold frost on my hair. I shook it out and smiled wider, this thing was the king of all dragons that could shoot ice blasts. Was the ice that made up the nest from this guy? Holy Thor, I was beside myself at everything I saw around me. I could tell the others were too-I knew this dragon was the alpha because even Toothless bowed to him.

"So how are we going to get all these dragons back on Berk?" Ryker asked curiously.

"My guess is that they listen to this guy right here so...we have to talk to him I guess?" I shrugged, I was a partial dragon expert but even I didn't know how this would go.

"Did you just say...talk to the dragon?" Snotlout asked me, I nodded to him as I looked at the alpha before me.

How was I going to do this without sounding insane? "Um so...we wanted to know if you'd tell the dragons to follow us back to...our home? My mother asked me to to protect them with you..." I tried. Yep. Sounded insane. The dragon seemed to stare at me so I looked at Toothless, "Will you tell him bud?" Toothless stepped to the edge and began speaking to the alpha about what I was trying to do. It took a few moments of them speaking back and forth in what I assumed was their language, the alpha simply closed it's eyes and stood up, the nest shook a bit too when he did. "Is he gonna agree, Toothless?"

My dragon warbled at me with a smile as I smiled next, thank Thor this was going smoothly. "Alright, we'll leave in the morning them after we get some sleep?" I said as the dragon nodded to me, then I looked to the others who nodded in agreement. We were all tired and hungry. We planned to eat, then bed down and get some sleep for the night, hopefully not take two more days to get home. I wanted to make sure Astrid, Milla, and Destin were alright-I knew Destin was sick when I left. On top of all this, when we got back-my boys were turning sixteen at the end of the week and then following that was Snoggletog, our annual holiday. I definitely wanted to be back in time for those two events.

After getting something to eat over a fire that Toothless lit-which we only had a ton of fish thanks to the Bewilderbeast, we all settled down in our sleeping pads with blankets and a small pillow. I was probably the last to fall asleep, tomorrow started the return home-we planned to leave at sunrise. Things were working out, I was glad for that. The next morning came as well all packed up, while they did that-I was looking at some of my mother's things with Dad. Little emotional for us to go through it all, the years we missed with her and now she was gone. We each agreed to take one thing to remember her by-a memory for us to hold physically rather than just in our hearts. When we were ready to leave and mounted up, I looked to the Bewilderbeast who I gave the name of Icespike to and he roared out to alert the dragons it was time to leave. Within moments, we were all in the sky flying back to Berk. Except Icespike, who was swimming because he didn't have wings.

(A Day Later)

Reaching Berk, Toothless was the one to alert the villagers we were back. Everyone rushed forward seeing the mass of dragons heading into the forest areas as I landed on Toothless and dismounted him and Cloud Jumper landed beside me as the others found open spots to set down on. I saw Astrid come out with Milla at her side and Destin in her arms.

"Welcome home, chief." she greeted as I kissed her lightly-happy to be home again and hopefully not having to take anymore trips. Milla jumped into my arms and I hugged her tightly, then Astrid handed me Destin in the other arm-I kissed his forehead lightly.

"I've missed you," I tell her calmly as she hugged Tore and Hagen. "How's Destin?"

"Much better, fever broke and he's eating normally again." Astrid enlightened me. I was relieved to hear that, I handed Destin back to Astrid and smiled. "How was your mom's nest?" she asked.

"Wait til you see this," I put Milla down and led her to the edge. "Alright, listen up. Announcement time!" I called out as people began to quiet down. "In case it wasn't obvious-the dragons that have now resided themselves to the forest were from my mother's nest. We brought one others with us, unfortunately, he is just too big to bring onto the island. Now, I ask that no one freak out." they nodded to it and I gave a whistle with my fingers as things began to shake a bit and then Icespike emerged from the water and stood high enough to be seen by all. "This is Icespike-the alpha and king of all dragons." I smiled.

"Wow, he's big..." Astrid blinked.

"Yes he certainly is. That's why he's gonna stay in the water, he seems to like how cold it is too." I informed her.

"So, this is the Bewilderbeast your mom talked about in her letter?" Astrid looked at me now, I nodded to her affirmatively. "Well, at least he's settling nicely." she giggled a bit. I smiled, this was great! Now maybe life could go back to normal with things the way they were.

(Three Weeks Later)

It was finally Snoggletog, also, Tore and Hagen were now both sixteen years old. That was fun day to celebrate too-they loved everything they got to do. Oh, and I finally introduced Berk to a new sport that has now replaced the annual regatta: Dragon Racing. The event Astrid and I made up back on Cloud Rider Isle when we were gathering sheep that got loose during a snowstorm. We raced one another to catch and get them back in their pen. The village got a kick out of it so we turned it into a game. Five riders, good amount of sheep, and the rider who got the most would win. It was Tore and Hagen's favorite thing to do-so I organized a race for their birthday party. Tore ended up winning it too, he was happy that day.

Today was Snoggletog, well, to be technical it was a few days before-but we still celebrated the festivities. The village had never looked better with all the decorations up, we'd been working on it for a week. This year was one to remember for sure, for the first time in hundreds of years: every Tribe in the Archipelago were allied with one another. Literally, after Red Death's defeat-every Tribe formed up to work together to continue the peace with the dragons. Even Madguts of the Murderus Tribe-who originally never allied with anyone-was allies with the other islands. It was incredible to see how happy everyone was now. I even managed to get Madgut riding a dragon, a Titanwing Nightmare named Silverfang-yes, the Titanwing I named four years ago when they first saw me stop a raid.

They were all shocked to see Madguts bond to him so easily-guess their personalities meshed well. Who knows? I was just glad there was no more killing. This year, Berk would get to see what happened for this time of year: when the dragons all took off to mate and have their babies. Anyone from Skywing Tribe knew it was coming-but I hadn't told Berk yet. I did send word to the other chieftains so they'd know when their dragons took off what it was due too, also not to freak out if they saw a mass of dragons flying over head. I had everyone gathered in the hall to tell them now, couldn't very not inform them that their dragons would be taking off later on. The dragons were usually gone until the day after Snoggletog-five days or so. Then they'd return with their babies and life would return normal again.

"What's going on chief?" asked Ruffnut-who was now married to Snotlout, they got married a week after Tore and Hagen's sixteenth birthday. It was the first wedding I'd ever performed since becoming chief of Berk-it was a nice ceremony and the two were living together now also. A house had been in the works for them while I was recovering from the Red Death fight. Either way-things were going good now.

"In a few hours or early tomorrow morning-the dragons will be leaving for a few days," I began calmly as people began to get worked up and worried. "Hey! I wasn't finished," I stated, they began to calm down now. "I said they would be back in a few days. They do it every year-ever notice that around Snoggletog, the raids seem to stop for a while? Well, it's because they all travel West towards an island where they mate and have their babies. I call it the Hatching Grounds, they always return either on Snoggletog or the day after."

"So, they will come back right?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yes, in a few days with a bunch new babies too." I assured them, "And Icespike is going with them, they'll be safe and back before ya know it," I added on.

"How do we know when they are leaving?" Gobber inquired.

"Icespike will roar out when it's time. Other dragons from the Northeast and Southeast will be flying over us and then our dragons will join them in the flock," I explained, a few nodded understanding. I was glad they did too-it wasn't easy when the dragons left. Everyone missed their dragons when they left, I didn't since Toothless couldn't fly without me-a lot of people found that unfair though, and to a degree...it was unfair. My dragon was the only one who _couldn't_ leave. Truth be told, I wondered how things would have been if he hadn't lost his tail fin and got trapped in the cove. Would we still of ended up friends or would he leave forever-possibly go find his family. I'd searched for other Night Furies and found nothing, it seemed Toothless was the only one left-but who knew. Maybe they existed beyond the boundary of the Archipelago and I just never went out that far. Toothless seemed content with how it was-being the only one like him. I just felt like he deserved more.

(Next Day)

As I anticipated, right after breakfast the call came through from Icespike and the dragons began ascending to the sky to leave for mating and offspring bearing. It was hard for everyone to see their dragons leave-but they knew they would be back thanks to me knowing how it worked. As usual, Toothless remained with me at my side while we continued preparing for Snoggletog in three days. I saw everyone sulking about-felt wrong that Toothless didn't get to go with the others. Then, I got an idea at dinner time. I had built Toothless a tail I controlled, why couldn't I build him one he could use without me? I had more materials and skills than when I was seventeen. I told Astrid I had to work late in the forge tonight, and that wasn't untrue. I knew exactly what I could do to make it so Toothless could fly without me.

(Next Morning)

I was up early-even though I had gone to bed around 2am and was up now at 6am with the sun. Who needed sleep? I was up all night working on my latest invention and I finally nailed the design that would work. "Toothless!" I called while standing outside in the main area and holding the wrapped gift for my friend. Toothless hurried over with his tongue hanging out, I'd taken his saddle and tail rig off him the night before to use for sizing purposes so he was just all black dragon right now missing the left tail fin. Toothless curiously sniffed the object in my hands and smiled a bit wondering what it was. "Settle down, you'll get to see it..." I tell him as he sits down and I move to his tail to start getting it on him.

The door to my father's house opened and I saw my father, Inga, and little five year old Signy come outside. After that it was Astrid coming out of our house with Milla, Destin, and the twins. "Hiccup, what are you doing?" she inquired gently.

"I was up all night working on this..." I said as I snapped the final gear into place and stepped back. "Okay, there we go." I said as Toothless lifted his tail and began to jump around and growl at it. "Woah, woah! Easy Toothless...easy..." I tried, finally he went to snap it to the ground and the fin opened on it's own. Following the motions of the real tail fin, that's right. I used clips that way it would open and adjust to how the real fin did-to make it even of both sides and something for him to do without me. "See, it's alright..." I tell him, he looked at me a moment and I went to reach for him but he backed up-and then darted into the sky heading West. I ducked to avoid getting knocked over, watching him fly out of sight and I sighed almost sadly.

"Hiccup, what did you do? Is he...flying on...his own?" Astrid asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah...yeah he is..." I replied calmly before sighing, "I built him a tail that he could use on his own..." then I headed off to start to do my duties for the day-it was going to be different without Toothless, we'd done everything together since leaving when I was seventeen. I already missed him...and worried if he'd come back now that he was free of needing me to fly.

(Few Days Later)

I'd been miserable since Toothless left-I never knew it would hurt this much not having him with me. This year was already hard with losing the mother I thought had been dead for twenty three years and was now actually dead because of Drago-who was dead also. It was now, Snoggletog morning-we'd celebrated the night before as per Berk traditions. It was a good night because the dragons had returned with their babies-but Toothless however, did not. I recall last night that Astrid and a few others asked if I was alright, I waved it off. In truth I felt like Toothless only stayed before because he didn't have a choice, now that he didn't need me...he had left forever.

Dad had made some comment about knowing what it felt like to miss someone you'd lost over the holidays, that instead of mourning-we celebrated them. I tried-but life for me just didn't feel right without my best friend with me. Toothless and I were the ones to start it all, the peace. That was our thing, and now, I actually felt really alone without him. It was early morning again, about 5:30am when I got up-I just couldn't sleep. I washed up, got some milk, and sighed seeing Toothless's empty stable in the house as I had every morning since he left when I gave him the tail. I made my way outside, I wasn't hungry this morning. I looked around to see that it snowed overnight, the ground was covered in a think blanket of white but not super deep.

"Oh, Toothless...where are you bud?" I asked to no one in particular. I continued walking the path, starting my normal duties-alone again. As the hours passed leading to lunch, I was slowly losing hope that Toothless was returning to Berk. He didn't need me anymore-why would he come back? I was just the human who shot him down seven years ago, almost eight now.

"Hiccup, are you okay?" I hear Astrid ask me.

"I thought I was...I just...don't feel right, or complete without him, Astrid..." I admit to her. I heard a slight thud behind me, and sighed. What had broken now-I wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever it was.

"Daddy, turn around!" Milla exclaimed quickly.

"Whatever broke, I want it fixed by dinner..." I stated preparing to walk away and then I heard Astrid gasp in shock.

"Hiccup, look!" she said now. I refused to turn around, finally she shoved me hard forcing me to turn as I saw Toothless sitting in the snow. My eyes widened instantly.

"TOOTHLESS!" I called out as he got in a playful pounce position and gave a gummy smile to me, I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck. "Oh, Toothless...I'm so glad you're back bud. Where have you been, don't you ever scare me like that again." I scolded him but I was just happy he was back. Toothless licked my face leaving a trail of slobber there. "Ick...you know that doesn't wash out..." I grumbled, I actually didn't care though. Toothless was back, he didn't abandon me. Toothless turned his head and roared out loudly and something out shot from behind a tall peak in the rocks, it was white with...pink/purple eyes. It was another dragon, and not just any either: a Night Fury!

I watched as it landed beside Toothless, it nuzzled him and then from beneath her-I assuming it was a female-wings were three smaller babies. One light gray and the other two darker. "Toothless found a mate and had babies!" Astrid exclaimed.

"Yeah he did! Way to go buddy, that where you been all this time. Mating and having the little ones?" I asked as Toothless nodded proudly. The large white Night Fury was definitely female, the eyes more pink now that I had an up close view of them. The babies were adorable. There two girls and a boy. The light gray one was a girl with green eyes like the mother, a light purple, and the darker two appeared to be twins. One male with Toothless's eyes, and one female with dark purple eyes. "Guess they'll be needing names..." I said as I put my hand out to the white Night Fury and she pressed her nose to my hand, then the babies tackled me playfully. "Alright, I name you three first...for you," I picked up the light gray female, "We'll call you...Silverwing. For you two twins..." I paused to think of something and then smiled. "For you little girl, we'll call you Nightstar. And the little man can be, Shadowfang."

Now the mother whined, clearly wanting to go next. "Frostwing..." I hear Milla say, the dragon seemed to like it because she licked Milla's cheek.

"Well, that settles that! Happy Snoggletog everyone!" I called out and the celebrations continued. What wasn't there to be happy about now? Absolutely nothing.

(The Next Morning)

It never felt better to wake up and know Toothless was home with his new mate and children. I was happy for him, truly I was. I made my way outside and saw him sitting there waiting for me-something else I noticed was that he pulled out the old saddle and tail rig too.

"What did ya pull this out for? You don't need it anymore, come on. Let's get going..." I tell him-but he moves away and sits before the rig again. "Will you...knock it off. You have you're new tail now..." I say and try again. "Toothless?" I asked, he lifted the automatic tail and looked at it as it opened at his will. Suddenly, he began slamming it into the ground hard. "Toothless! Stop, what are you doing!?" I exclaimed quickly as he whipped the now broken tail off and away from him. I stared in confusion and shock as he pulled over the saddle again, sitting with his head low and pleading eyes, he pushed it towards me.

"He doesn't want to fly without you, Hiccup..." I hear Astrid tell me. Now it made sense, the flying together-bonded Toothless and I. It was out thing, we started that and making him the tail took it away from both of us. Toothless didn't want to fly if I wasn't flying him. He didn't want to carry me as the other dragons carried their riders, Toothless and I flew together and he wanted to keep that. I smiled as I got everything on him and we took to the sky as the village was coming out to watch the scene of us flying together. At some point, I stood up in a crouch while high over the village but still in sight.

"Alright, you ready?" I asked, Toothless snorted as I back flipped off his back and we both headed straight down, the cool Berk winds blowing in our faces. "WOOHOO!" I called out as Toothless used his paw to spin me around, I closed my eyes smiling. Winter in Berk lasts most of the year and the only real comforts against the cold are the ones you keep close to you. Life was perfect. Great island, Tribe, wife, kids, family, and best friend. Peace had been made, all because of a young boy and dragon coming together in trust, understanding, and respect. We did something that no one else ever had before us-we ended the dragon/viking war and from this day on, peace would continue to rule supreme in our world. It was the start of something new, a new era. All this began because a boy and a dragon became best friends, Toothless gave me my purpose, my reason for living this life. I might have given him the ability to fly without me-but he gave me the greatest gift of all seven years ago. Toothless gave me the gift of having the best friend anyone could ever ask for.


End file.
